Shizaya: I want to stay with you forever
by Shirohime's - Shizaya-stories
Summary: He was right. As delusional it may seemed to be… He loved Izaya. It didn't matter how it happened, why it happened… it just happened. A little smile appeared on his face. -Eeh… So that's what it feels like to love someone… (Chap. 3) Shizuo loves the flea, but will he love him back? And what's haunting Izaya in his dreams? fluffy, sweet and later more ;D Next: 27.7.2014
1. Chapter 1: I am not scared

**Chapter 1: I am not scared.**

**On the streets of Ikebukuro: Shizuo & Izaya point of view**

"IIII-ZAAAAA-YAAAAA!"

_CRASH_. Another telephone pole dove into the hard concrete where the ravenhaired man was standing just seconds before.

"What´s wrong Shizu-chan~? I know you can aim better than that~!"

In another attempt to tease his nemesis Izaya flung out his knife and waved it in front of him.

"Shizu-chan~ come on catch me if you can~"

Shizuo felt the anger welling up inside him, as the flea used his so hated nickname again.

"You damn flea! I will KILL you! I will KILL you till you´re DEAD!"

The blond grabbed a nearby trashcan and threw it after him. Izaya however dodged it laughing.

"Now, that doesn´t make much sense, don´t you think Shizu-chan?"

_Dammit! That shitty flea, can´t he stop for one moment, so that I can kill him?! _However Izaya wasn´t going to do him that favour. Just like before he evaded every flying object that was supposedly aimed at him and continued making fun of the debt collector.

"Whoa, isn´t that Heiwajima Shizuo?"

"Scary…"

"Orihara is also there, get away, that´s gonna be dangerous!"

Astonished bystanders watched the two of them as they were taking out their fight on the streets. Just like that, they went on in their typical daily routine off chasing one another through Ikebukuro. Izaya chuckled. Even though this wasn´t an unusual sight, the residents didn´t seem to get tired of it. He couldn´t blame them. After all how could someone ever get tired of watching his beloved monster, doing impossible things like throwing light poles and vending machines through the streets?

Just then another light pole, followed by a stop sign flew over, only a few inches apart from Izayas face. He stopped in his movement and looked at the ridiculously well-aimed object _… _

_I guess that´s it for today… _He decided that he should make his leave. Swiftly he dashed to the other side of the street and turned around with a smirk on his face.

"Well then Shizu-chan, I think we played enough for today."

Furious the blond glared at the raven.

"Oi, I am not finished with you yet!"

However Izaya didn´t listen. He turned around, and just like that he disappeared into an alleyway. immediately Shizuo rushed after him, but as he reached the alley there was already no trace of the flea left.

**Few hours later in a bar: Shizuo point of view.**

"DAMMIT!"

Frustrated Shizuo slammed his fist onto the bar, which ended up being decorated with a little crack... Surprised by the sudden outburst of the blond, a few girls in the back of the bar screamed.

"Shizuo, calm down…", Tom sighed.

He went with Shizuo to a bar after they finished their job as dept collectors. He has been in a bad mood all day since he met Izaya and he knew Tom wanted to get the information broker out of his mind. But Shizuo was still quite pissed of.

"That shitty bastard, next time I see him, I am definitely killing him!"

Instead of calming down he was now furiously taking his anger out on the bar table…

"Well, stop destroying the bar for now, I don´t wanna be thrown out because of you."

Sudden realization hit him, as Shizuo looked at the crashed table in front of him. Guilty he clenched his fists.

"Sorry... But that fucking flea just makes my blood boil!"

He gritted his teeth as he remembered the smirking louse running away to make his escape _again_... It always went that way. Every fucking time Shizuo met that parasite he just got away, mostly without even a scratch! Again the anger built up inside him. _Why the fuck does he always freaking get away?! _

Tom sighed and looked at the obviously still raging ex-bartender. He eyed him curious.

"Why do you even hate him that much? I know he pulled some tricks to get you arrested and such, but it´s not like this hasn´t happened with others too…"

Shizuo finally looked up. He decided to grab one of his cancer sticks as a means of calming him down. Indeed, he couldn´t care less, what the flea had done to him, there were others who had done worse. But the flea…. he just seemed to keep pushing the wrong buttons… _It´s not like he did anything. I have hated him the first second I saw him. _

"It´s just that smirk on his face…", Shizuo grunted aloud and blew the smoke into the air.

"You hate him because he smirked…?", Tom asked with a questioning look.

"Yeah, more or less… I wiped out an entire team before his eyes and he just sat there, actually smiling…!"

Shizuo threw his cigarette to the floor and stomped on it.

"Fuck! Just thinking about it makes me angry! That fucking bastard, I am gonna fucking kill him!"

Raging with his newfound anger he stomped on his cigarette, when suddenly a man, wrapped up in a long black coat, came up to him.

"So, you say you wanna kill Orihara Izaya?" he asked with a stern voice.

Shizuo turned his head around in order to see who the hell dared to mention the flea´s name when he was around.

"Who the hell are you? Piss off!" he snapped at the stranger. He smirked.

"Excuse me, but I couldn´t refrain from catching a bit of your conversation. I didn´t get around the fact, that you really loath the information broker Orihara Izaya. Enough, to actually kill him… Did I perceive that right?" he asked with a low voice.

_What the hell, what´s with that weird way of speaking…?_ _Anyway who is he? I don´t think there would be anyone in Ikebukuro who wouldn´t know of our fights…_ Shizuo turned around annoyed due to having heard the name of his nemesis twice.

"Yeah that´s right. So, what the hell do you want?", he asked.

"Then I have a job for you.", the stranger smiled.

"A job?" Shizuo raised his eyebrows. He could actually need a job. Tom also came up a little closer to the stranger.

"What´s that job about?", Shizuo asked now also quite curious.

"Well...", he snickered. „I want you to observe Orihara Izaya for me."

Toms eyes nearly popped out, as he heard the request the man was making. He was obviously trying to hold back his laughter and simultaneously eyed Shizuo. He knew he probably waited how he would react to that ridiculous request. That man didn´t know of their relationship, that he was sure of now. Otherwise he wouldn´t have asked Shizuo to actually "observe" his most loathed enemy.

"No way.", Shizuo just sighed and stood up.

"Tom-san, I am leaving for today." Shizuo turned around and left the bar.

"Ah, sure.", Tom laughed and looked amused at the surprised stranger. He had anticipated a different answer it seemed. However he didn´t seem to give up yet. He followed Shizuo.

-**outside**-

"Well, wait up a bit. I know a bit about your relationship with Izaya Orihara.", he said, walking besides him.

"Huh? You know?", Shizuo asked annoyed. Now he really got a nerve. He knew about the two of them and dared to ask such a stupid thing?!

"I heard a little bit. But wait up and let me explain, when I have finished I think you won´t be as opposed to the idea as before.", he said trying to convince him to stop.

Shizuo actually did as he said and turned around to look at the strange guy.

"Just let me tell you, nothing in the world could get me to volunteerly watch the damned flea. Now stop bothering me, you fucking get on my nerves." Shizuo said angry and already motioned to go on.

However the man was still following him. _Calm down. Calm down, you already destroyed the city once today, there is no need to do it twice…_ he tried not to give in to his rising anger as the man pestered him again.

"Wait, just think about it, you hate Orihara Izaya. You hate him so much you fight with him every day in order to kill him. Yet he always gets away… Right…?"

Shizuo stopped in his movement. That shitty man actually got a point, he didn´t even once get the flea for real. Sure, he would sometimes throw a lucky punch or some sign and scratch or even hit him, but even so he _always_ got away. He turned around.

"What are you trying to tell me?", he asked the stranger.

"I want you to observe Orihara Izaya for a certain purpose. I want to find his weakness."

_Weakness…? The fuck, that bastard has no weakness._ Shizuo looked at him with doubt. The stranger seemed to get that Shizuo didn´t really catch the bite. So he went to other reserves.

"Every human has a weakness, even a bastard as crazy and sick as Orihara Izaya has one. But nevermind, how about this? I will pay you 1.000.000Y per day, how does that sound?"

Shizuo nearly choked on his cigarette as he heard the sum.

"…the fuck?! What, you some rich ass that´s bored or what?", he asked and took a closer look at the stranger.

But besides a huge scar on his left eye there was nothing special about him. Brown hair, brown eyes. Not even some kind of intimidating glare or shit like that. From the sum he mentioned like it was pocket-money he would have guessed he was with the yakuza or something like that.

"No, I just also quite hate Orihara Izaya, for reasons you don´t necessarily have to know. Either way, how is it, do we have a deal?"

Shizuo looked at him suspiciously. Sure he hated the idea of having to watch the fucking flea for even one second. Besides they wouldn´t discover a weakness on that bastard, but he sure as hell could use the money he offered. He sighed and threw his cigarette on the ground.

"Fine...", he grumbled.

"Very well…", the stranger grinned.

**In Izayas apartment. Izaya point of view**

**A**: No we disagree.

**B**: That´s right, your offer is in no way acceptable!

Izaya looked bored at the conversation on his computer. It´s been hours and he was still sitting here, discussing money issues with these stupid men. Izaya sighed. _They won´t accept…_ Why couldn´t they just give him what he wanted? _Well, if that´s the case…_ He began to type again.

**Izaya**: Lovely B-san and A-san~ I am sure you know, that it wouldn´t be good for you if you denied my offer, wouldn´t it?~

**B**: What do you mean?

**Izaya**: You know, there have been rumors going around!~ People dealing drugs while camouflaging them as company deliverings… Not that you two would have anything to do with it~

**A:** You bastard! You have no proof!

**Izaya:** Oh, I wouldn´t be too sure of that…~

Silence. Izaya leaned back on his chair. Now he just had to wait till they finally gave in and accepted his offer.

_Humans sure are easy to read. You threaten them and they do what you want._

Izaya laughed. He didn´t even have the actual proof he was talking about, but just the possibility of it being true would push the two of them to give in. A sudden *pling* showed him that they had written back. Curious he read what their answer was.

**B**: Fine. Tomorrow at the same place as usual.

**B**-offline-

**A**: **(private mode) **You´re playing with fire you know, if I were you I would better watch my back…

**Izaya: (private mode) **Shingeki-san, I wouldn´t throw with stones when I am sitting in a glasshouse…~ I would refrain from trying anything in your position, if you know what I mean… stealing money from your Boss isn´t that nice, isn´t it~?

**A**: **(private mode)** …go die.

**A**-offline-

Izaya laughed and spun around on his favourite chair.

"Humans sure are interesting beings!", he laughed.

They just acted like he wanted them to. As long as he had information he could get anyone to do what he wanted.

Knowledge is power, as Francis Bacon said.

He stood up and stretched himself, after having sat in front of his computers for so long. He went to his couch, stared at his game, took one of the chess figures and dropped it in the dustbin.

"Sayonara~ little pawn.", he laughed amused.

**Meanwhile on the floor directly above Izayas apartment. Shizuo point of view**

"We are here."

Shizuo stepped into the apartment. It was really spacious, just like the flea´s. He looked at the stranger. What was he planning?

He seemed to realize that Shizuo was eyeing him with suspicion, so he started his explanation.

"I am sure you already know, that Izaya´s apartment is right under this one, I guess?"

Shizuo nodded, of course he knew. He had been there quite a few times. But even then he couldn´t catch the damn louse.

"That makes it easier, you see, this apartment is exactly above Izaya´s apartment and I really mean _exactly_. This kitchen is over his kitchen, this bedroom over his bedroom and so on… moreover…", he moved to the middle of the living room, and kneed on the floor. Slowly he pushed the carpet aside and revealed an entrance to the apartment beneath.

"This is an entrance to Izaya´s apartment, and this…" he removed the carpet from another point on the floor. "…is a sort of spy. You will find one in every room of this apartment, of course they are not visible from beneath, they are made out of a special kind of glass."

He stood up again.

"I want you to observe Orihara Izaya from here and find out as much as possible about him. If you see the need you can also secretly go down and search in his apartment for information. That´s what the entrance is for.", he let his hand slide into one of the pockets in his coat and drew a mobile phone out of it. He threw it to Shizuo.

"Here, with this I will communicate with you. I will call you the day after tomorrow. I hope you have some information for me then…", he grinned.

Shizuo looked at the phone he gave him, sighed and placed it onto the table.

"Got it…" he let himself slump onto the couch.

"Well then, excuse me I have to go now.", the stranger made his way out.

"Wait.", Shizuo said and the man stopped.

"Is there something else to discuss…?"

"Sure as hell, I don´t even know your name.", Shizuo stated annoyed.

"Ah, I am terribly sorry, I forgot. You may call me Arizawa. Well then, I am looking forward to working with you.", the man grinned and made his way out.

Shizuo sighed and leaned back on the couch.

_What a strange bastard… Well, but he pays me, so I guess I shouldn´t call him a bastard._ _I even get to live in a nice apartment for free…_

Suddenly his phone rang. It was his real phone, not the one Arizawa gave him. He picked it up.

**Shizuo**: Tom-san? What do you want?

**Tom**: I just got a call from my boss. I won´t be here the following week. I just called to tell you that.

**Shizuo**: Ah, got it.

**Tom**: And… what happened to that guy…?

Shizuo sighed.

**Shizuo**: Well, I took the job.

He could almost imagine the surprised face Tom must be making right now.

**Tom**: Wha- for real?

**Shizuo**: Well, yeah… he pays me a shitload of money and I get to live in a nice apartment for free, in exchange I just have to watch Izaya a few days… But I don´t think I will be doing this for long, maybe for one or two days and then I will quit.

**Tom:** Why? Doesn´t sound that bad to me.

**Shizuo:** Yeah, but he kinda creeps me out…

**Tom**: Okay, it´s your decision either way...

Suddenly he heard noises from the other side of the phone.

"What the hell, you talking with Heiwajima Shizuo?! You have balls!"

"Yeah right he is such a monster!" Shizuo flinched at that comment. "So scary~", a woman commented. _Shitty bastards, talking shit about me behind my back._ He heard Tom defending him.

**Tom**: Oi, shut up you bricks...! Well then, Shizuo? I have to hang up now, bye.

**Shizuo**: Sure.

Shizuo sighed. _A monster …ka?_ He laid down on the couch and stared at the cycling. He couldn´t even blame them. Even he thought that way. It´s not as if he was acting like a normal human being. Throwing stop signs and vending machines… he sure as hell deserved that title.

After all… he _was_ a monster…

**Flashback**

Slowely Shizuo opened his eyes. Where was he? Greenish curtains surrounded him and he laid on some kind of bed. Then he realized it. He was in a hospital. Oh right, he had been at school… then that bastard dared to call him names… and he snapped. Curious he looked at his body. One broken leg and arm. Well, that wasn´t so bad, last time it was worse. Maybe his body got stronger from all the strain…?

Suddenly he heard noises. The curtains were closed, but he could see the siluettes of two nurses.

"Is that him?" one of them whispered.

"Yeah, that´the one! Just imagine, he grabbed the table of the teacher and threw it at one of his classmates!"

_Ah, they are talking about me…_

"That´s impossible! He is .. what? Like 8 years old?"

"It´s true, he is a real _monster_, just a week before he was also here, he threw a vending machine at his own brother!"

"That´s horrible!"

"Yeah, even his parents are scared of him! Last time I accidentally overheard them and they were both calling him a monster and discussed whether to give him away or not!"

"For real?!"

"OI, I AM AWAKE YOU KNOW?!" Shizuo yelled. Suddenly the nurses went silent and quietly made their leave. Shizuo leaned back on his bed and looked out of a window besides him. He wasn´t really surprised or anything like that. He had heard his parents discuss this too… and not only once. But it´s not as if he didn´t understand them. He _was_ a monster. Even he knew that…

**Flashback end**

**Back in Shizuos apartment. Shizuo point of view.**

"Damn…." Shizuo brushed through his hair and yawned.

"When did I fall asleep?" He looked at the clock. Almost 8:30 pm. He got up from the couch and slowly moved to the spy. _Time to look what the flea is up to._ Carefully he rolled away the carpet and looked into Izaya´s apartment.

Like always he was sitting in his chair in front of his computers and talked with someone on the phone. His secretary Namie was also there. She sat on the couch and browsed seemingly annoyed through a huge pile of files. Shizuo had seen her before. He knew that she wasn´t on good terms with the flea. Quite the opposite. She hated him too.

Suddenly Izaya moved. He had finished his talk on the phone and went up to his secretary to sit down on the couch besides her.

"What´s wrong, having trouble finding the file~?", he asked with a smirk on his face. Namie glared at him.

"A bit…", she spat with tight pressed lips.

"Ehh~ Really~? You said you would finish by today?" Izaya teased.

"Well I didn´t know you would give me a fucking mountain of paperwork to look through!" the secretary snapped and stood up.

"Now there, calm down Namie-chan, come on, continue working… except you would like not to get paid today…?" he smirked as Namie glared at him and sat down again.

"That´s the way I like it~"

"Shut your trap. Next time tell me to come earlier when you have that much work piled up for me…" Izaya giggled, but to Shizuo´s surprise actually did as she said and drew away. He focused his attention on his strange game board instead.

Shizuo looked at Namie. He felt bad for her, to be working under the flea must be humilitating… If he was in her position, he would have ripped off the flea´s head the moment he opened his mouth.

He focused on Izaya again. What the hell was he even doing? That game he was staring at didn´t make sense at all.

"Nee, Namie, make me some tea?~", he pouted.

"Go make it yourself."

"Ehh~ Don´t wanna, you do it."

That fucking childish behaviour, Shizuo hated it, couldn´t he act more normally…?!

"Can´t you go and get on the nerves of someone other than me? How about that monster Heiwajima?" Shizuo glared at her for that comment.

"Go play with him till I finish." Yet another glare was shot at her for putting strange ideas in the fleas head.

"Don´t wanna~" Shizuo sighed. At least he didn´t take her up on that offer…

"What, you scared?" Surprised Shizuo looked at Izaya, whose face went expressionless.

Suddenly Izaya burst out. He laughed so hard he had to hold his stomach.

"Wh-what?", Namie asked staggered, not only Shizuo was startled by that reaction.

"That was a good one Namie! ME scared of Shizu-chan, you are really funny."

"I was serious, who the hell wouldn´t be scared of him? Even if you think of yourself like a god, I bet even you are afraid of him! No matter how you look at him, he is a fucking monster." Shizuo clenched his fists angry.

_Yeah, yeah, sure, I am a monster I got it already …_ But still, the way she talked about him got on his nerves. He didn´t even do anything to her personally, yet she goes and talks about him like that.

_Pisses me off…_ He already knew, he didn´t need everyone to remind him again and again... He knew his parents were afraid of him, he knew all the people in Ikebukuro were afraid of him. Hell, even his own brother was scared!

"I don´t think he is a monster." Puzzled Shizuo looked at Izaya. _What did he say…?_ But he soon got his posture back and sighed. _Yeah sure, he is gonna say something like I am a protozoan or shit like that… _

"He is not? Well, then how would you describe him?", Namie raised an eyebrow with a questioned look.

"He isn´t a monster-" Izaya started

_See? Now it comes._

"-He is just a normal human who is unnaturally strong due to his brain limiters not being there... That´s all there is to it."

_Huh…? _Surprised Shizuo looked at the flea. Did he really just call him a normal human?! That was in fact the greatest surprise he ever had.

"Talking it sweet like that, what human throws vending machines after you? Aren´t you scared of him?"

"I am not scared of him"

… Completely caught off guard Shizuo watched the flea in disbelieve.

_What did he just say? _

_He isn´t scared of me? _

_How is that possible? _

_I say I want to kill him and try it every day, I always throw all kinds of things after him and yet…._ Shizuos mind was blank for a moment. He didn´t get it at all. Was he really not scared of him?

Suddenly Namie began to laugh.

"Ha! I don´t believe you, if you aren´t scared, then why are you always running away from him?"

Curious Shizuo eyed Izaya.

"Because it´s fun~." Shizuo smirked at that comment. _That´s so typical Izaya…_

"I don´t believe you."

"Oi, oi, now there listen Namie, if I really were scared of Shizu-chan, than I would know many ways to not let him know where I am and _accidentally_ run into him. You should know that as a fact."

"So you are really not scared…?" She eyed him curious.

"… I always knew you were a crazy bastard, but to that degree…", she sighed.

"Haha, oi Namie, that hurts…~" Izaya playfully grabbed his shirt where his heart was supposed to be and tried to act theatrically. He stood up and grabbed his coat.

"Well, but I think I will take you up on that offer from before... When I am back from teasing Shizu-chan I expect you to have finished…" he said as he got out of the door.

"Ha?! What?! Oi Izaya! When are you coming back?! OI!"

Shizuo still sat on the floor above Izaya´s apartment and thought about what he heard right now. He still couldn´t really believe it. No matter who he thought of, he knew everyone was scared of him.

_Shinra_, even if he hated to admit it was scared of him. He remembers that time all to good, when he accidentally snapped at him. In his eyes was fear.

_And Celty_, well he didn´t really knew about her, but she didn´t count. They were roughly the same.

_And his brother_… the hell, even his mother, father, Kadota.. and all the others, he knew they were afraid. Afraid that Shizuo would hurt them. Intending it or not. So why?

_Why isn´t he scared?_

He didn´t get it. The one he always chases, the only one he ever threatens to kill… was the one that wasn´t scared…?!

Slowly he got up, as he remembered the flea saying he was going to _play_ with him. He grabbed his coat and went outside. Of course he made sure not be seen while doing so. After all, Izaya shouldn´t know, that he was living right above him.

**-Outside. Shizuo point of view-**

"Tschi-!" Shizuo sneezed. It was fucking cold. Where was that stupid flea? It´s been two hours already! Not that he was freezing, Shizuo always kinda had a warmer body temperature than others, but he was tired of waiting. He decided to take a walk so that he wouldn´t be that bored.

He also tried to get that talk from earlier out of his head, but somehow the fact that only Izaya wasn´t scared of him bugged him way more than he actually liked to admit…

Up until now Shizuo did actually think that the flea was scared and just hid it behind his mask, but… why should he lie now?

Deep in thoughts he dragged his feet along an alleyway, when he heard a noise. Looking for it´s source he found another alley, in which two figures seemed to have an argument. Only as he went closer he realized, that it was actually Izaya and another man standing there.

_So he went for a secret meeting instead of searching for me… _

Curious he eyed the both of them. They were talking about something, however he couldn´t quite understand, what it was about. But he probably didn´t want to know either way...

They seemed to have come to a conclusion, because suddenly the man took off and left Izaya behind. The raven turned the other way round and moved in Shizuos direction. Fast he hid in the shadows, as the flea passed by.

_What was that about? _

He scratched his head, and followed the flea. Curious he eyed Izaya. The raven was walking leisurely a few meters ahead, jumping and spinning around as the weirdo he was. Shizuo watched him with curiosity.

He remembered his words again.

_(I am not scared…_ _If I really were scared of Shizu-chan than I __would __know many ways to not let him know where I am…)_

He took one of his cancer sticks and closed up to the flea. No matter how you looked at it, he didn´t seem to know Shizuo was following him.

_Knowing when we meet my ass… just cause it´s fun huh?_

Somehow his words pissed him off and he grabbed a stop sign, conveniently standing besides him. _The fuck you saying…?!_

"Izayaaaaaa-kun!", he yelled and the flea jumped around in surprise. He really wasn´t aware off being followed by the blond up to that point.

Swiftly he jumped to the right and avoided crashing together with the sign Shizuo had thrown at him.

"Ara Shizu-chan, so we meet twice today, did you miss me that much~?" Izaya laughed and pulled out his flipblade to point it at his nemesis.

"Who would miss you?! I am going to kill you now!", he dashed in the flea´s direction, however Izaya swiftly leapt into an alleyway and so they began their typical chase anew...

**After the fight. Shizuo standing outside. Shizuo point of view. **

_He got away… again… _

Shizuo was leaning against a wall as he smoked a cigarette. It was already dark and only a light pole a few meters away was lighting up the street.

Shizuo flinched as suddenly something wet touched his nose. He looked up and realized, that it was beginning to rain. Slowly he backed away from the wall and walked down the street.

_I am not scared._

He didn´t get this statement out of his head. Just like the flea itself it was bugging him the whole time. Earlier he encountered him again and they took out their usual fight. But this time Shizuo watched him closely. And Izaya said the truth.

Not once during their fight did he show fear on his face. Sure, he looked surprised when Shizuo first called out to him… but not scared… he really…

_He really isn´t scared of me…_

Somehow Shizuo felt light-headed, sure it was the fucking flea, but hey he wasn´t scared of him, he was like the first person to ever say that. A little smile crept over Shizuo´s face.

"Crazy flea…"

The sound of his phone ringing cut off his thoughts. He picked up.

**Shizuo:** Yeah.

**Tom:** Ah, hey, sorry that I bug you again, I just wanted to tell you, that my trip has been prolonged and I won´t be here for two weeks instead of one.

**Shizuo:** Two weeks?

**Tom:** Yeah, that´s all I called for, well then-

**Shizuo:** Wait.

**Tom:** Yeah?

Shizuo brushed through his hair.

**Shizuo:** Say, am I scary?

Silence. Suddenly a little giggle was being heard over the phone.

**Shizuo:** Tom-san?

**Tom:** Ah, sorry, I kinda found it funny you asked that, I mean, you are beating up people every day and the whole city fears you for your strength. Of course you´re one scary man.

**Shizuo:** Is that so…

**Tom:** Ah, I have to hang up now, cha.

Shizuo shoved his phone back into his pocket. Somehow the light headedness from before had disappeared. He scratched his head. Well, he could have predicted that answer… Slowly he went on in the direction of his apartment.

"Oi you, bartender! What´cha doing here?!". Curious to see who called out to him Shizuo turned around, only to see some punks approaching him…

**3o´clock in the morning. Shizuos apartment. Shizuo point of view.**

"SHIT!", angry he slammed the door to his apartment shut and let himself slump into the couch.

"These damn bastards..!" he hissed.

He had encountered a few punks before, they were just out for a fight. They wanted to beat him up. But that wasn´t what made Shizuo so angry. It was that look! When Shizuo turned around they immediately realized, that it was Shizuo Heiwajima standing before them and they put on that look again.

That fucking look everyone gave him…!

That "this monster is going to kill me" scared look. What the hell?! He hasn´t killed anyone in his life so far!

_Fucking bastards, don´t look at me like that…!_

He hated it. That look. He wasn´t a bad person, he didn´t even like violence, he only beat up bad guys and yet. They give him that look, he just kinda snaps. It makes him even more angry, than the flea ever could.

Come to think of it, the flea never looked at him like that. Shizuo sighed. Until now he thought, Izaya only had bad characteristics, but he had to admit, that aspect kinda gave him a positive point.

He got up as he remembered the reason for him being in this apartment and looked a second time down through the spy.

Izaya was still in the living room and seemed to have nodded of on the couch. He looked peaceful.

Suddenly these words came to his mind again… _I am not scared of him…_

A little smile appeared on his face. The flea could say some nice things, when Shizuo wasn´t there… compared to the shit he talks when he was around.

Shizuo backed away and decided to finally go to bed. It´s been a tiring day…

**Awww, Shizuo kinda took a liking to the flea~ **

**Well, what do you think? :3 Just to mention, english is not my native language, so if you find any grammar or spelling mistakes please don´t hate me too much. I know, this chapter probably wasn´t a mind blowing one, but it´s just the beginning. I promise the next one is gonna be sweeter. ~ :3  
**


	2. Chapter 2: E-mail and a sick flea

**Hello there~! First of all, thank you all for your nice reviews! :3 I was really surprised, because initially I thought the first chapter wasn´t that good, but to my surprise you liked it! *0* **

**Reading your reviews really made me happy and inspired me to write. And since you said you couldn´t wait, I especially hurried to write another chapter. :D This time even longer, and with a loooot more sweetness! 3 :3 Well, I don´t want to hold you up any longer. Enjoy! :D**

**Chapter 2: E-Mail and a sick flea**

**Shizuos bedroom. Shizuo point of view.**

Slowely Shizuo opened his eyes as a ray of light shone on his face. He turned around sleepy and looked at the clock besides his bed. Surprised he rose up.

"Woah, it´s already noon?! Tom-san is…", suddenly he stopped.

Ah, right, Tom-san was away for two weeks. He didn´t have one of his usual appointments with him today. His new job, was watching the flea… Shizuo sighed and dropped onto his bed again.

Why did he take that job again? Oh yeah, because of that rich ass bastard and his shitload of money… He got up unwillingly and went yawning to the living room. Another short glance at the clock told him the exact time. 3 pm.

He sighed.

_Well, let´s see what that louse is up to today._ He went to the living room and looked through the spy, but to his surprise there was noone there.

No Izaya, no sectretary. Probably he was out doing his job or some of his beloved human observation …

Well, he wasn´t any better. After all now he was doing the same as Izaya… observing. If he remembered correctly that guy, what was his name…? Right … Arizawa. He wanted to get some information on Izaya by tomorrow. Shizuo looked at that certain spot on the carpet, under which the entrance to the flea´s apartment was hidden.

An idea formed in his head.

Actually… Since Izaya wasn´t there he could go down and look through his stuff...

He smirked, maybe he would find something to harrass the flea with. He _might_ have gotten a bit more likable for not being afraid of him, but he still got on his nerves. The smile grew broader as he imagined actually digging up some secret and making the flea do as he says so that he doesn´t reveal it.

With new found enthusiasm he got up and opened the entrance. A small ladder was attached to it so he could climb down. Curious he sneaked into the fleas apartment and looked around. A shitload of files, a turned on computer, envelopes… he sure would find something in here…

**7 pm. Izayas apartment. Shizuo point of view. **

He. found. nothing.

Absolutely, nothing.

After reading every file, browsing trough every computer data and checking all envelopes, he still didn´t find anything at all he could actually use against the flea. No hidden secret, no information, no so-called „_weakness"_ as Arizawa would put it.

Simply nothing.

Shizuo let himself drop on the flea´s couch. That Arizawa guy sure was optimistic, believing he could dig up some information on Izaya by tomorrow… Even though he hated to admit it, Izaya was cautious, even _if _he had some kind of weakness, one would not find it by simply searching through his apartment…

He glanced at the table.

Just like that game.

Normally one would think the game characters where just randomly placed by some kid and dismiss it, but in reality Izaya used all of those to play a certain game. However except him nobody seemed to know, what rules he was actually playing by.

Curious he eyed the board. Chess pieces, Shogi stones, poker cards… all kinds of stuff was neatly positioned on the field. He picked up the king from chess and looked at it thoughtful.

As far as he knew this game had something to do with Izaya´s hobby of observing people. That much he knew about the flea.

He took another glance at the spacious apartment. He wouldn´t want to live here… All alone in an apartment this huge… Somehow it gave off a cold feeling. But not only because of the size of the amartment.

Except the things Izaya probably needed for his work there was nothing in here that would imply him doing anything other than that. His apartment only seemed to serve as a working and sleeping place.

Now that he thought of it…

Outside on the streets of Ikebukuro it was the same, Izaya was always either doing his job or occasionally fighting with him… but nothing else.

Except observing humans of course…

_What´s so interesting about „observing" humans anyway…? _

Shizuo leaned back.

Only watching, and never actually being involved with others… somehow that sounded kind of…

_lonely_…

A sudden noise startled Shizuo, as he heard something at the front door. Hastly he got up and quickly leapt back into his own apartment.

Just in time. The moment he closed the entrance Izaya went into the room.

Shizuo watched him through the spy.

_Damn, that was close..._

Izaya didn´t seem to have noticed that someone had been in his apartment.

"Haha, sounds like Shizu-chan…", Shizuo flinched, as he heard the flea mention his name. But then he realized relieved, that Izaya was talking with someone on the phone. For a moment there he thought Izaya had actually discovered Shizuo spying on him.

"Yeah, but I met him twice yesterday.", Shizuo rose his eyebrows.

Was he talking about him…?

"No, he is as weird as ever~."

Shizuo glared at him. _You…! Who is the weird one between us…?!_

"How about the deal~?" Concerned he looked at the flea. He was betting Izaya was doing some stupid things again…

"Haha, that´s rare coming from you Shiki-san~" Shiki, so that´s the guy he was talking to. He heard that name before… the flea was doing risky things again…

A sudden *pling* coming from the computer caught both their attention.

Shizuo cursed himself as he noticed that he actually forgot to check the flea´s mails.

_Well, maybe another time…_

Still holding his phone Izaya went up to his computer and sat down on his wheel chair. The monitor was slightly turned around so Shizuo could actually see what the flea was doing.

"So why don´t you simply accept~?" the raven questioned Shiki.

He clicked on the new e-mail, when suddenly the screen turned black and a few letters painted in red appeared on it.

"_**Tonight we will come and kill you Orihara Izaya**_…" was written there with gruesome letters.

_Heh… you got a threating e-mail, what´cha gonna do now flea …?_

Shizuo raised his eyebrows and eyed Izaya, longing to see what kind of face he would make, realizing his shit came haunting him back.

However to Shizuos surprise Izaya didn´t even bat an eyelid and just deleted it.

_The fuck…?!_

„Ah, sorry didn´t listen just now. Well, let´s discuss his tomorrow ne~?" seemingly untroubled he continued his talk on the phone.

_Oi, oi are you just gonna ignore that?!_

However Izaya seemed to just do exactly that. He hung up his phone, sat down on his chair and continued doing his work.

Shizuo watched him confused. Didn´t he take the threatening mail seriously, or why did he seem not to care at all?

_He really has got some nerves…_

Shizuo sighed and moved away from the spy. Well, either way it was Izayas problem. As if he would care if something happened to the flea when he was being that careless…

He looked at the clock.

It was already 9 pm and he got no information on the flea at all … he scratched his head. Tomorrow when that Ayuzawa guy was going to call him he could tell him absolutely nothing about Izaya…

_Ma… doesn´t matter either way. I told him he had no weakness… _

Shizuo sighed and drew a cigarette out of his pockets.

_If the flea is still alive tomorrow that is…_

In thoughts he blew the smoke into the air.

…What… if someone really killed him tonight…?

…

Not that he cared…

The flea would be better off dead either way…

**2 am. Shizuos apartment. Shizuo point of view.**

…

He couldn´t sleep.

…

He couldn´t sleep at all!

It was fucking 2 am, and he was lying in bed wary listening to every suspicious sounds coming from the fleas apartment...!

„Damn flea…", he grunted and stood up.

Quietly he moved to the spy viewing Izayas bedroom, and looked down the maybe 100th time now, where he saw the fleas figure curled up around his cushion, sleeping peacefully just as before.

He scratched his head.

„Dammit…"

He could care less if someone came and got rid of his nemesis.

He _hated_ him.

…

His sat back on his bed, leaning on the wall and facing the ceiling.

Well, probably not _hate_…

Since he knew the flea wasn´t scared of him, his anger somehow seemed to have faded away a bit… but still! He definitely got on his nerves. But somehow…

It bothered him…

To wake up and realize the flea was dead… that thought somehow bothered him... more than he would like to admit.

Before he probably would have thought nothing of it, hell, he would have killed the flea himself if he had the chance! But now… for some reason he changed his mind.

Deep in thoughts Shizuo looked at the ceiling.

Not that he cared, just… it would be strange not to have the flea around anymore… After all a quite fair part of his daily routine consisted of fighting the flea… or chasing him through Ikebukuro…

Now that he actually put some thought to it, it would be kinda weird if that suddenly stopped…

Moreover, he was most likely the only person on this planet who knew about his strenght and actually wasn´t afraid of him…

Not that that he cared about that…

He sighed, got up and took one of his cushions to put it down besides the spy.

He couldn´t sleep anyway, so why keep trying? He made himself comfortable and watched the sleeping Izaya.

**8 am. Shizuos apartment. Shizuo point of view.**

Nothing. happened. at. all.

Annoyed Shizuo grabbed a smoke. The e-mail seemed to have been a fake… He must have known that! That damn flea…

He yawned but he still didn´t move away from the spy.

_I could have slept the whole night… _

Shizuo cursed himself for acting so stupid in the first place and looked down at the still peaceful sleeping Izaya.

_But he sure is sleeping weird_.

Over the night Shizuo had seen, how the flea constantly rolled around in his sleep. By now he was lying vertically on his bed with the sheet dropped on the floor, only clinging to one cushion and he _still _wasn´t finished moving.

Again he began to trash around in his sleep. _Maybe he has a nightmare…?_ Shizuo thought to himself, when suddenly the flea moved alarmingly close to the edge of the bed… and dropped ungraceful with a loud bump to the floor.

"Pfff…", Shizuo had to hold back his laughter at that sight.

_Now he probably is awake_.

Yawning and holding his head Izaya got up covered half with the sheets he had dropped to the floor. Still clinging to his cushion he looked around. Amused Shizuo realized, that he didn´t seem to be fully awake yet...

With half closed eyes he stood up and made his way to the kitchen. Shizuo watched him as he stumbled over the sheets on the floor and crashed straight into the door.

Shizuo smirked.

NOW he definitely was awake.

Enjoying the scene Shizuo watched the flea, as he got up again and this time actually managed to get out of his room.

Well that was interesting, obviously Izaya seemed to be a total crash pilot in the morning. That was new. He threw away his cigarette. He would have to stick close to the flea if he really wanted to find out something interesting about him… maybe he actually would discover some things…?

Shizuo grinned. Somehow his job had gotten much more interesting.

Suddenly the door to the fleas bedroom flew open and Izaya stormed in. He was eating one bread, while talking on the phone and getting clothes from the drawyer. He seemed to be in kind of a hurry.

„Yeah yeah, give me a few minutes, will ya?" Izaya stated visibly annoyed.

Shizuo realized he was going to go out and quickly got his own clothes.

Today he was planning to follow the flea, no matter where he was going…

**Outside on the streets of Ikebukuro. Shizuo point of view.**

It was really quiet. Normally he would have expected to hear a lot of traffic noise and talking of people when he stepped out on the streets of Ikebukuro, but this time it was different. It was still early, and as Shizuo usually got up pretty late he didn´t know how peacefull his city actually could be in the morning.

Cautious not to be discovered he followed the flea who was wandering around, talking to all sorts of people and sticking his nose into their business. With that few people walking on the streets that proved to be quite a difficult task, as he constantly had to hide.

However in exchange it wasn´t only easy to spot Shizuo but Izaya too. The blond at least wouldn´t have to worry about losing sight of the flea.

Curious his eyes followed the raven as he went into an alley which he knew was a dead end.

_He is probably making some risky transactions…_ he bet.

He glanced into the alley. It really was a dead end and just as he imagined he was talking to some yakuza-looking guy.

Shizuo leaned tired onto a wall and drew out one of his cigaretts. Staying up the whole night was kinda wearing him out.

He blew the smoke into the morning air.

But he really was surprised at the amount of people the flea knew. Of course, Izaya was an information broker, Shizuo kinda figured he would know a lot of people, but _that_ many? Since they got out of Izayas apartment he met a crazy amount of people and he seemed to know everyone. Which certainly didn´t always apply to the others.

Shizuo had to admit, even though he disliked what the flea was doing as an information broker, he had to accept that he was damn good at it. You sure had to have some kind of talent to actually remember and recall so many details about every person.

In general Izaya seemed to have a rather good memorizing ability. When Shizuo searched for some information on Izaya´s computer he didn´t find anything at all. Nothing about the flea, but also no trace of any data he was digging up on other people. So basically the flea must have memorized this huge amount of information on his own.

Certainly to prevent anyone from stealing the info from him.

Suddenly Shizuo saw Izaya coming out of the alley again. The flea seemed to have finished his appointment because seconds later the other guy too came out of it and quickly disappeared in the now slowely forming crowd.

However Shizuo had to hurry, as Izaya was already moving on. In contrast to before he now spoke to none of the people on the street. Actually he seemed to be avoiding any unnessecary confrontations.

Maybe he was in a hurry?

They were now in a rather quiet and secluded part of Ikebukuro. In this territory people were living in houses instead of apartments. Just like Shizuo had when he was young.

He looked at the flea.

_What about him?_

Suddenly he realized, that he actually knew nothing about the flea´s life. Well, he had his two devious sisters Mairu and Kururi, but that´s all he knew about him. They had been enemys for so long, and he was sure Izaya knew everything there was to know about his life, but he on the other hand...

Izaya was kind of a closed book. Now that he thought about it, who _would_ know something about his past? His sisters probably and his parents… wait, did he even have parents?

He didn´t remember meeting any Mr. or Mrs. Orihara back in his school days…

Apruptly he stopped in his tracks as he realized that the flea had stopped as well. He now was standing in front of an old run down house and rung the bell.

Shizuo eyed it curious, who could live here?

The facade had already started crumbling and the windows were smeared. The garden… could you even call this a garden anymore…? What kind of people lived here?

His thoughts were apruptly cut off, when a sudden scream coming from Izaya caught his immediate attention. A giant dog had suddenly jumped against the fence and barked furiously at the flea. Completely caught off guard Izaya jumped backwards and fell to the ground.

Completely disshelved he laid on the street glaring at the dog.

Shizuo couldn´t help it, he just had to laugh when he saw the look on Izaya´s face. Even he, after long years of fighting hadn´t been able to make the flea react in such a way.

Of course Izaya now noticed the blond standing only a few meters away.

"Sh-Shizu-chan?!", he mumbled surprised.

"What the hell flea, you that scared of dogs?" Shizuo smiled amused and approached the flea. His cover was blown either way, so why not take advantage of the situation and annoy the flea for once?

"I-I was just surprised! Wh-what are you even doing here?!" Izaya asked with a high pitched voice. A slight blush was spread across his face and he was glaring at him from below.

He obviously was embarassed to have been seen by the blonde, when he was acting so much out of character…

"I am just walking around. Can´t I?", he asked the flea with a grin on his face.

"Tch-", the flea got up again and glared at the bartender. He looked ready to throw a few insults or one of his usual statements at Shizuo, when suddenly the door to the house opened and an old man came out of it. Izaya glanced at him.

"... let´s save this for later, Shizu-chan~.", he took off and left Shizuo on the street.

"..Whatever.", Shizuo sighed and went down the street. For now he would have to stay away a bit from the flea as he was surely more cautious now…

He just reached the end of the road, when he suddenly heard a familiar noise. It was the roaring of the headless riders motorcycle. In other words, Celty.

Just that instant she drove around the corner. She stopped and got of her motorbike, as she saw Shizuo standing on the street. Quickly she typed on her PDA.

(Good morning Shizuo, it´s rare to see you around this early.)

"Yeah, I had to get up for my job today. Are you always up that early?", he asked. Celty nodded and looked around.

(Where is Tom-san?) she typed.

"Ah, no. Tom-san´s away for two weeks, I am on a different job now."

Apparent interested Celty went on typing on her PDA.

(A new job? What are you doing?) Shizuo twitched at that question.

He couldn´t just tell her he was observing Izaya… He was supposed to do this in all discreetness...

„Ah, it´s kind of… a secret... sorry.", he wormed his way out of it. Celty typed again.

(Is it dangerous?) She seemed concerned.

„Ah, no don´t worry, it´s just I am not allowed to talk about it."

(… Do you like that job?)

Shizuo looked surprised at the question. Did he like the job? Well, he was kinda pissed off at just the idea of observing the flea before. But somehow it wasn´t that bad anymore. After all he got to know the flea a bit better.

He rememberd the fleas embarrassed face when he realized Shizuo had seen him, acting all out of character. Totally flustered and blushing. He chuckled.

_Seriously, who actually thought the flea could look this cute?!_

…

_Wait_…

Shocked he stopped in his thoughts…

Did he just really….?!

_What the hell?! Cute?_

How the hell could he think that bastard was _cute_?! He was a guy… no forget that, but it was fucking Izaya!

Orihara Izaya.

His fucking enemy!

The one human that anoyed him enough to fall into complete rage when he saw him.

The one he had been fighting and trying to kill for years!

That man that always got him into trouble!

That Orihara Izaya!

Suddenly he realized he hadn´t been replying to Celty, who was now waving her PDA right in front of his face.

(Shizuo? Is something wrong?) He didn´t know. He was still shocked by what he thought.

There must be something wrong with his brain.

"Oi, Celty."

(What is it?)

"Can you do me a favour? Hit me real hard, with a brick, on the backside of my head."

(Huh? Why should I do that?!) Celty typed confused on her PDA.

"No reason."

He rested his head in his hands.

_Tired_. He must be realllly tired. Of course, he stayed up the whole night, he wasn´t in his usual mental stable condition. That´s it. He was just tired.

There is no way he would think something as bizarre as the flea being cute, on a normal day.

(Are you okay? Has it got something to do with that job?! Do you need help?! ) Shizuo realized he had gotten her worried now. He sighed.

"Ah, don´t worry, it´s nothing, I just remembered something, that´s all."

(…you sure?)

"Yeah." He smiled at her. Relieved he noticed she had calmed down.

(Okay. But do tell me if you have a problem.)

Shizuo smiled.

"Sure."

After that Celty inserted her PDA back into her pocket and drove off. Shizuo however was still left with confusing thoughts. And these were certainly not getting better, whe he saw the flea coming out of that run down house again.

About one hour had passed and the flea seemed to have forgotten about Shizuo. Instead he was talking on his phone and walking off again. Since the flea didn´t seem to be any more cautious than before he decided to take the risk and follow him again.

Probably he would see some cute reaction again. He smiled, but dropped his smile immediatly.

_Interesting._ He meant interesting. Definitely not cute. That was a mistake of his. He was tired and probably just mistook the words. That had to be it. There was no way he could have actually thought the flea was… cute…

He shook his head.

_Just look at him… _

He eyed the flea, walking in front of him…

Sure he didn´t look that bad, he had a slender figure and he knew there were some girls that actually liked the flea … but he was _not cute_.

Maybe interesting, but _not cute_.

He was definitely _not cute_.

He was-

Wait…

Did he imagine it, or was he really swaying? Izaya was walking quite a few meters before him. Worried he looked closer.

…

He was!

Only slightly, but he was definitly swaying a bit while walking! Concerned he glanced at the flea. Now that he was watching him more closely he noticed that the flea was also coughing a bit from time to time.

Uneasy he followed him. It was getting cold, and when he was already coughing and swaying he must be getting sick… he looked at his watch. How long was he going to stay outside anyway?

However Izaya didn´t show any intention of going home. Instead he just went to his appointments. One after another. Ignoring the fact that he was beginning to sway even more as time moved on.

Anxious Shizuo observed the flea. Was his work that important, that he had to do it even when he was unwell or did he just not care about his health at all? Either way the flea didn´t stop. He continued doing his job, as Shizuo continued following him.

Time flew by and it had been about an hour since Shizuo had noticed the fleas state. And he still didn´t show a sign of going home soon.

That was when it began to rain.

"For real now?" Shizuo stated annoyed, his head tilted upwards to look at the pouring sky. Dark clouds were covering it and not showing any intention of dissapearing soon. Shizuo dedictated his attention back at Izaya.

He was _still_ walking. Shizuo stopped and leaned close to the wall of a cafe when Izaya turned in yet another dead end alleyway. He sighed. The eaves of the cafe were rather small and only protected the debt collector slightly from the rain.

Suddenly a man stood besides him, talking with someone on his mobile phone. He seemed to be waiting for somebody in front of the cafe. But that didn´t matter, he had an umbrella. Getting drenched by the rain wasn´t to Shizuo´s liking…so…

„Oi, you." He tipped the man on the shoulder.

„Would you mind-", but the man didn´t let him finish his sentence, instead he hastly backed away.

„You´re Heiwajima Shizuo!", he yelled. Annoyed Shizuo looked at the man.

…So he was one of _those_…

„Yeah, so what?!", he asked the man, now kinda angry for being yelled at. However he didn´t get an answer, instead the man just took of and ran away as fast as he could.

He looked to the ground. He had lost his umbrella while running away… Angry he looked after the guy. He just wanted to ask him if he could take shelter under his umbrella for a while. Since the flea wouldn´t come out of the alley so soon. But no, he just had to put on that fucking scared face and yell at him for no reason…

Shizuo sighed. Why was he getting so agitated about that anyway? He should be used to it already. Silently Shizuo watched as the umbrella was slowely blown a bit away by a cold breeze. He went and picked it up. At least he didn´t have to drench in the rain anymore…

Half an hour.

That was the time that went past, till the flea finally got out of the alley. His business partner was coming out with him. They went to a black limousine, and the client said a few words to the flea, before he drove off.

Shizuo looked after the car, as it speeded away. He kinda guessed, that the flea would go home, since he was exposed to the rain now. Till now he hadn´t gotten wet at all. The man from before had held an umbrella over Izaya while they were discussing whatever business they had. Additionally the flea was already getting sick and as smart as he was he definitely knew that.

But he guessed wrong.

The flea didn´t go home, he went on. Disbelieving Shizuo watched the flea, as he walked into the direct opposite direction of his apartment.

_Even now he is gonna continue doing his job?_

He couldn´t believe it. Was he just plain stupid? He could get seriously sick walking around in the cold rain, as he already seemed to be coughing and swaying. He didn´t even have an umbrella for gods sake!

Angry he stopped in his tracks and light himself a cigarette.

_That idiot, he will freeze to death… _

He looked at Izaya.

…

**Change: Izaya point of view. **

Aha~ it was cold. Freezing Izaya grabbed his coat and wrapped himself a bit up in it. He loved his coat, it was really usefull at such times. He looked at his phone. He still had to meet 4 other clients today.

Tired he dragged his feet along the road. He wanted to go home. He had started coughing a few hours before, and now he was feeling really dizzy as well…

He sighed.

He had no time to get sick, a lot of his beloved humans were anxiously waiting for his information… he couldn´t let them down, ne~?

But still, before it had just been cold, but now it was also raining? He really wasn´t lucky today. Maybe he would run into Shizuo again. So he could prevent him from finishing his work quickly, that would be highlight of the day…

Like in the morning…

God…

Why did that damn dog have to surprise him? He must have looked totally hillarious… leaping away from the pet like that. Shizuo even laughed at him…!

God, how embarrassing…

He sneezed. Fuck, he was freezing! Why did he even-

His thoughts were apruptly broken off, when suddenly something hard hit his head from behind. Pained he clutched his head where he had been hit.

"What the hell?!", he groaned, when he suddenly realized, that the object having hit his head, was an umbrella. Dumbfounded he looked at it.

Surprised he turned around. But nobody was there.

… _Who had thrown that…?_

**Change: Shizuo point of view. **

_Why did I do that…?!_

Confused Shizuo hid in the shadows. Izaya was still looking around, searching for the person who had thrown the umbrella.

Shizuo on the other hand didn´t quite understand his actions. Sure, he had come to terms with the fact, that he didn´t want the flea to die, since it would be strange for him not to be there anymore… He already accepted that.

BUT.

Getting drenched by the rain wouldn´t get the flea killed now, would it?!

So why the hell did he do, what he just did? He could care less if the flea was feeling cold. Yet his actions proofed that he _cared_ about the flea…?!

He shook his head and grabbed one of his cigaretts.

Lack of sleep. Definitely. Something was defintiely wrong with his head today… he must be becoming disillusional because of sleep deprivation…

Somehow satisfied with his reasoning he came out of his hidding. But to his surprise the flea was no longer there.

Where did he go? Anxious Shizuo searched for the flea. Without success. He had lost him.

Relieved he realized he had at least taken the umbrella with him.

Not that he cared…! Irritated by his own thoughts he sctratched his head and decided to go back to his apartment. Even if he went on searching for the flea, he probably wouldn´t find him.

**10 pm. Shizuos apartment. Shizuo point of view. **

_Where is he…?! _

Uneasy Shizuo looked at the clock. It was already 10 pm, and he still hadn´t gotten home. And to make it even worse, it was still pouring outside.

_What is he doing staying out that long…? Did something happen…? _He startled at that thought. Suddenly his phone rang. Absentminded he picked up his phone, till he realized that it was the phone Arizawa gave him, that was ringing.

He was probably calling him for his information. Shizuo squinted his eyes. That bastard wanted to kill Izaya. He would quit that job. That he was sure off… but. Not now. As it was he was staying in this apartment of his where he could watch the flea. And he wanted to wait till he got back.

Not that he was concerned or anything…

But if he told Arizawa now that he quit the job he would probably kick him out immediatly.

He leaned back on his couch and listened to the ringing phone. He would just let it ring. If he didn´t pick up he wouldn´t have to say anything…

Finally it stopped.

_Good. _

Now back to the flea. The possibility of something having happened to him didn´t leave Shizuos mind. What if he got into an accident? What if some gang members had caught him?

Somehow he felt uneasy.

What if the flea passed out on the street...?! He would be an easy prey… If someone found him, they could do anyth-

That did it.

Shizuo had enough of waiting. He decided he would go out and search for the flea. He grabbed his coat, an umbrella and opened the door, when suddenly a familiar sound reached his ears.

He stopped and listened closely.

„Yeah, maybe tomorrow, just give it a rest already…"

It was the Izaya´s voice. Quiet he went into the living room and looked down into his apartment. Relieved he realized, he was actually back. Talking on his phone as usual.

Shizuo sighed.

However a sudden noise made his relief soon disappear again.

The flea was coughing and shaking violently. Worried he watched Izaya as he grabbed a blanket from his bedroom and curled himself up on the couch. Shizuo grunted annoyed as the flea took a few files from the table and looked them through.

_Is he a workaholic?_ Shizuo thought annoyed.

However he didn´t look at them for a long time, because just a few moments later his eyes began to flutter and he drove off into his sleep.

_Finally…_ Shizuo sighed. He watched Izaya as he slowely drifted down the couch till he laid streched out on it.

_At least his body realizes when he is overdoing it…_

Suddenly the flea´s desk caught Shizuos attention. There were some photos of Izaya and his sisters. Curious Shizuo looked at the flea…

Actually the informant was out for good… and he had wondered about Izayas past before…

Besides tomorrow he probably would put these photos away again…

So…

As quiet as possible Shizuo opened the entrance to the fleas room. Carefully as to not make any noise he sneaked into the fleas apartment. Anxious he watched the flea. However he seemed to be out for good. Slowely he went over to Izayas desk. Two files filled with photos were lying there.

Curious he looked them through. He furrowed his eyebrow. Indeed, it were pictures of the flea and his two sisters… but…

They were all cut up.

_Why? _

Shizuo looked at the sleeping raven. Had he been the one cutting these up? His sisters? If so, why? He knew Izayas sisters always seemed to claim they hated their brother, but he had always thought they were kidding… were they not?

He went up to Izaya and looked at him up close. He was frowning. Slowely Shizuo streched out his hand to remove the bangs from his forehead. He paused. Did he only imagine it, or did the flea have a fewer? Gently he leaned forward and put his forehead against Izaya´s.

…

He did have a slight fever!

„Shizu-chan…" Startled Shizuo jumped back, thinking he had woken the flea.

However that wasn´t the case. Relieved he realized the flea was talking in his sleep. Surprised he eyed the raven.

Did he dream about him? A strange feeling welled up, as Shizuo looked at the flea.

What was he-

„Shizu-chan, you know…", the flea started mumbling again. Eager Shizuo listened to his words as he watched him. The flea turned around and finished his sentence.

„… you´re stupid."

And there the feeling went away, while being stomped at all over…

_You little…! _

He sighed. He was to relieved to be angry. When the flea could talk like that, he was somehow okay… He pulled the blanket over Izaya. He had again removed it from his body. The same way he did this morning, Shizuo remembered.

_It would be better for him to sleep in a bed, than on the couch_, Shizuo thought to himself.

For a minute he hesitated. But then he made up his mind. The flea was out cold anyway…

Slowely he placed an arm underneath the ravens legs and another behind his back. He lifted him from the couch and carefully carried him into his bedroom. He was even lighter than he had expected. Surprised Shizuo stopped in his tracks, as he realized, that the flea was actually cuddling into his chest. However he didn´t wake up.

Shizuo grinned.

That flea, he always did the most unexpected things.

Gently he put him down on his bed and covered him in his bed sheets.

„Good night flea…", with these words Shizuo left the room and made his way up again.

He too went to his bedroom, however he stopped in the door and leaned thoughtfully against the frame.

„.. what am I doing…?", he muttered to himself as he covered his eyes with the back of his hand.

„… Seriously… What am I doing…?"

**What is he doing indeed~? :3 Well, so what did you think about this chapter, was it better than the first? I plan to write somewhere between 5000 to 6000 words per chapter. Please review, I really want to hear your opinion on this. :D **_**And it makes me happy. XD**_

**For those that wonder why Izaya is having so little showtime, don´t worry, starting next chapter you will gradually know more about what Izaya is thinking too. :D**

**PS: I am going to post on my profile every day how much I have written and when the next chapter will be posted. :D Just to say. ^.^ **


	3. Chapter 3: Shock and realization

**Wow, you are great! *0* ~ Your reviews really made my day, seriously! ^.^ I am so happy you all think that way about my story! ~And also thank you for pointing out my mistakes, construcitve criticism is also heartly welcomed of course. :D I totally forgot that the exclamation marks had to be constantly up in english. XD Anyway, thank you very, very, very much for your nice reviews! :3 **

**I hope you will like this chapter too. Again I hurried so it would be finished in less then a week. XD **

**Enjoy! :D**

**Chapter 3: Shock and realization**

**Izayas bedroom. Izaya point of view.**

It hurt.

Slowely Izaya opened his eyes and touched the bump on his head. It was morning and he was lying on the floor, _again_. Slowely he got up and looked around in confusion.

How did he get to his bedroom…?

He couldn´t remember at all… Yesterday was just too blurry. The last thing he recalled was sitting down on his couch to check the files … but then?

He must have sleepwalked to his bedroom, he figured. Yawning he got up.

His head now hurt a bit after his usual drop out of bed, but the fever and dizziness from the day before had gone away. Althought he did cough a little. With a releaved look outside his window, he realized that it wasn´t raining today. Quite the opposite, the sun was shining brightly and there were no clouds in the sky. He snapped open his phone and looked at his appointments for today. Grinning he read the names of his clients. Shingeki-san was also listed.

Amused he sat on his bed. The last time, when they were discussing business in the chatroom he actually dared to threaten him. Not that someone could bother the great Orihara Izaya with something as plain as that. But he would have to remind him of his position…

He smirked. He was already looking forward to that meeting.

_Mairu and Kururi too…_

They had sent him a threatening e-mail _again_… he sighed. Hadn´t they already figured out that he knew it was his sisters who sent them…? They should work out something else if they really wanted to scare him… not that they would succeed either way…

Only now he noticed, that he had again discarded the sheets in his sleep. He frowned and looked at them thoughtful. Well that was a lie… actually there was a way to make him feel scared. But nobody knew this and he would make sure that it stayed that way…

He stood up and placed the sheets back on his bed.

_Oh yeah, the best information broker of Ikebukuro has one weakness…_ Only one thing, that made him vulnerable. He stopped in his movements.

Couldn´t he just get over it already? Why did it have to be so difficult? It happened years ago, and still…

…

He clenched his hands on the bed sheets.

…

Well, at least he didn´t remember what he dreamed of… even if he could kinda guess it.

**Ealier. Shizuos bedroom. Shizuo point of view.**

He still didn´t get it.

Shizuo had woken up early and the first thing that came to mind were yesterdays… "events"…

Why did he do that…? Not wanting him to die was one thing, but this… being worried about his well being, checking his fever, carrying to his bedroom… if he had to judge his action he would have to say it looked liked he actually _cared_ about the flea.

But that wasn´t the case. It simply couldn´t be. He had loathed him just days before, he couldn´t just have changed his mind that easily. So why did he help him? Out of pity? Not quite a satisfying explanation, but at least acceptable.

But there was something else…

Something, that bothered him even more than his actions…

What was that feeling? Yesterday when the flea called out his name it stirred up a weird sensation. Well, he probably only dreamed about one of their fights, since he was calling him an idiot… but still, that sudden emotion he experienced didn´t leave his mind. Even now something similar to it welled up in him as he remembered it again…

What was that…?

A sudden noise cut off his thoughts. It took time till he realized it came from the living room. Annoyed he got up. It was the ring tone of Arizawa´s phone… Yesterday he had just ignored him, but today he would quit this job. That bastard wanted to _kill _Izaya.

_I won´t sell that damned flea out to you…_

…

_Never…_

He thought as he made his way to the living room and picked up the phone.

**Shizuo:** Hello.

**Arizawa:** Well, good morning Heiwajima-kun. Yesterday you missed my call, I hope you have some information for me now.

He seemed to be quite annoyed.

**Shizuo:** No, actually I have got no information on the flea at all.

Silence…

**Arizawa:** You do know, what I am paying you for I hope?

He asked with a stern voice.

**Shizuo:** Yeah I do. You can keep the money, I quit.

Now that seemed to have surprised the guy.

**Arizawa:** What the hell?!

Shizuo raised his eyebrow.

_Wow, he is capaple of swearing, didn´t expect that._

**Arizawa:** You can´t just quit, you fucking asshole!

…_and now he even insults me…_

**Shizuo:** I will be gone from the apartment in about an hour.

**Arizawa:** What?! You damn-!

He just cut him off, not wanting to take any more shit from the man. Annoyed he broke the phone into half. Now he couldn´t call anymore, that was sure.

A loud noise coming from beneath startled Shizuo. He remembered the morning before. The flea had been falling out of his bed… had he done it again? He moved to the spy and looked down into Izayas room. There he saw the source of the racket. The louse really had fallen out of bed again. Shizuo tilted his head.

_Is this his usual way of waking up?_

Since he had nothing else to do he decided to watch the flea. He was coughing. But okay. He didn´t seem to be swaying anymore and his eyes weren´t glazy. So the fever must have at least gone down, if not away.

_That´s good._

Amused he watched Izaya as he looked around in confusion.

_He must be wondering how he got into his bed…_

Again he remembered the events of the day before. He facepalmed. He actually carried him to bed, like a fucking princess! Not that Izaya knew it... And Shizuo was glad for that, he would make sure, he would be the only one to take this to his grave.

But seriously, what had gotten into him?

He would understand it, if it was Celty, or Shinra or his brother. They were kind of his friends. He would help them out immediatly if they needed him or were sick. But Izaya?

…

"Screw it…" he mumbled. He couldn´t figure it out anyway… he just did it because he felt like it. No explanation necessary.

He went on watching the flea. He had been sitting on the floor quite a while, but now he got up and moved the sheets to their usual place. After that he didn´t change clothes, he just left the ones he wore yesterday on, grabbed his furry coat and left the room.

_Is he going out again? _

Worried he looked after the flea as he left his apartment. He still wasn´t completely fit, and he knew there were a hella lot of people who wanted to take the flea´s life. On the other side he had escaped them all, including him, up to today, so…

_He will manage, he always did…_

Shizuo sighed and got up. Well, he should leave now too. He didn´t want to be here, in case Arizawa came to check if he really left. He changed into his usual bartender clothes and threw a last glance into the apartment before he stepped out on the streets of Ikebukuro again.

A short glance to the right allowed him to see Izaya´s figure disappear into an alley, followed by one of his clients. He took one of his cigaretts and looked into the other direction.

"So… what now?", he mumbled. 3 days. He lastet longer in this job than he initially thought he would. But now Tom-san was still going to be away for another 11. What should he do? Aimlessly he walked down the street.

" Oh Shizuo, long time no seen!" Surprised he turned around as he heard a familiar voice.

"Good morning Simon.", he greeted the Russian.

"Ne Shizuo, how about some sushi before work? Sushi is good, sushi is cheap."

"Ah, sorry not today. Besides I don´t have work." Shizuo stated.

"Oh, I thought you had new job. A mysterious job." He whispered.

Shizuo raised his eyebrows.

…

Shinra. Definitely. Celty must have told him and he was the type of guy who just couldn´t shut his trap. He sighed. He didn´t even want to know, from whom Simon had heard that, out of curiosity that stupid doctor probably spread it across all of Ikebukuro.

"No, I quit it already.", he answered Simon´s question.

"Oh? What was it about? I hope nothing bad. Nothing with violence. Violence is no good Shizuo.", he said. Shizuo shook his head.

"No, it didn´t involve any kind of violence.", he assured the Russian. A broad smile showed on his face.

"Good Shizuo, violence is bad. But then why you quit?", he asked curious. Shizuo looked at him. Actually it wouldn´t matter if he told Simon what the job was about. He wasn´t the type to gossip about something like that anyway. Moreover, he didn´t have to spill _who_ the person in question really was…

"I had to watch someone.", he told Simon bluntly. Said man raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Only watch? Doesn´t sound bad, why you quit, you hate the person?", he asked.

"No, it´s not because I hate him.", Shizuo stated grabbing one of his cancer sticks. He hated the guy who gave him the job…

"Ah, so you like the person?" Simon stated noding.

Shizuo widened his eyes in surprise, dropping the cigratte he just had wanted to light.

Not because of his question, but of his wrong use of words.

Simon was russian, he couldn´t blame him for not speaking japanese perfectly, however he had said something, that hit Shizuo like a wave.

He used the wrong word for like. Shizuo knew the man probably meant if he liked the person in a sense of a friend or something similar to it, but the word he actually used, was not "_like_".

It was "_love_".

The Russian had just unknowingly asked, if Shizuo _loved_ the flea. And the worst part of it was…

He considered it.

He actually considerd it as a possibility. It would explain a lot, the umbrella, his caring, not wanting to kill the flea, not wanting him to be sick or cold, that feeling when he called out his-

His eyes widened.

_No!_

_That can´t be!_

He refused to accept that!

There was no way he could have fallen in _love_ with the flea! That just wasn´t possible! It was Orihara Izaya they were talking about! His enemy! This just…

… wasn´t possible…

"Shizuo?" the Russian waved in front of Shizuo face. He snapped out of it.

"NO WAY! I hate that person! I detest him the most!", he began ranting and punched a hole into the the wall of Simons restaurant.

_Yeah that´s right, I __**hate**__ him. _

"Shizuo calm down! Violence no good!"

_I __**hate**__ him!_ He clenched his fists.

_I have __**always hated**__ him!_

He had known him for years! _**Detested **_him for years! So how the hell could he even think of the possibility of being in _**love **_with the flea?!

"There is no way I could like that person in any possible way!"

_That´s right._

" I detest him."

_I do._

" I loath him!"

_Totally. _

"There is no way that I-"

_**BANG**_

A sudden noise slicing through the air stopped Shizuos outburst of rage. People screamed. Shizuo knew that noise.

That.

Had been a gunshot.

In slow motion he turned around. The gunshot had come from an alley not far away from where he came.

"He killed him!"

"Call the police!"

"Get away!"

Lots of people were shouting different things to each other. Shocked he watched those who were screaming and running away.

It wasn´t unsusual for someone to be killed that way in Ikebukuro. It wasn´t the first time something like this happened. What shocked him was something different.

It was as if time stood still. Three simple thoughts slowely began to form in his mind and send a chill down his spine.

_**Someone had died in that alley. **_

_**Izaya was in that alley. **_

_**Izaya fought with knives.**_

He blinked a few times and began to laugh nervously.

"No way…", he mumbled.

Only Izaya and his client were supposed to be there... This couldn´t be.

_Oi, oi, don´t tell me they got you….they couldn´t have…_

It was Orihara Izaya he was talking about. A man able to survive getting a vending machine to his head. A man that could escape him no matter how… Another thought crossed his mind. Izaya had been sick. Izaya had been slower than usual. What if…

This couldn´t be true.

…_they couldn´t… _

Slowely his feet began moving.

…_they-_

Without a second thought he dashed off.

"Ah, Shizuo, where you going?!", Simon yelled after him. However Shizuo didn´t even notice the Russian. His thought´s were ony filled with Izaya.

_Don´t you dare fuck with me Izaya! _

The thought… the thought of running around the corner and seeing Izaya, lying dead on the ground… it suffocated him. He ran like a freak. He couldn´t breath. He didn´t want to till he knew he was save! To hell with the reason! He didn´t care anymore if he was in love or not. As long, as the flea was okay it didn´t matter!

It didn´t matter…

_Izaya…!_

Finally he reached the alley and stormed breathless around the corner.

There he was. Not on the floor, but leaning against the wall. The client from before was lying on the ground, while another unfamiliar man stood in front of Izaya. Glaring the flea stared at the guy. A gun was pointed at his face. However Izaya bluntly charged forward and swiftly took the gun out of his hand.

"Wha-?!" Surprised he stumbled backwards.

"Now that wasn´t nice of you, stranger-san~ Mind to tell me why you tried to kill me~?", Izaya asked the man with a playful voice and pointed the gun back at the stranger. Horrified he backed away.

"You-! You deserve to die!"

Shizuo watched the flea as he evaded the man´s fist and sent him to the ground. He had control over the situation. However Shizuo didn´t pay attention to the scene anymore. Just one thought was taking over his whole mind.

_Izaya´s not dead…_

He took one of his cigaretts. His hands were shaking. Slowely he walked a bit back and leaned against the wall of a cafe.

_Izaya is save._

He had thought he was dead. That thought had truly terrified him. Why? he hated the flea. But if he hated him… then why did he feel so relieved…?

"Damn it, stop shaking…!", he tried to prevent his hands from trembling, but it didn´t stop.

Why was he so upset? It´s just the flea, noone important, just… the flea, right? It couldn´t be, that he cared, that he… Slowely his back started sliding down the wall.

_Thank god… _

_Thank god he is okay…!_

**A few hours later. Izayas apartment. Izaya point of view.**

Nervously he looked at his collection of knives. Neatly positioned they were lying on the table in the living room. Izaya sat in front of them, frowning.

That was close… too close…

The incident this morning wasn´t something he had planned. If he had noticed the stranger sneaking up on them even one second late, he would be dead now. Seriously. If he hadn´t moved behind his client, he would have been the one lying on the ground. He didn´t even know the man who tried to shoot him. And _that_ was bothering him. A former client trying to kill him, was something that had occured times before, but for him not to know his killer… Something was wrong, that guy had been hired by someone. He was sure of that.

But who?

His thoughts drifted of to the computer conversation a few days earlier.

"I would watch my back if I were you…", he remembered. Those were Shingeki´s words. Izaya cursed. He didn´t think that bastard would actually try to do something. Sure, he had a big mouth, but assaulting him for real? That was a completely different matter.

He sighed and leaned back on his couch.

Maybe he really should get a bodyguard. Shiki had offered him a few man of his before.

He shook his head. No, he couldn´t trust them, they could notice something. It was too risky... He could take care of himself. He grabbed his coat and phone.

"Hello, police? I have to report something."

If Shingeki really thought he could play with fire, he should try, Izaya would show him that it burnt.

**Afternoon. Ikebukuro. Shizuo point of view. **

Deep in thoughts he walked down the streets. His hands had stopped shaking now. But his mind hadn´t. He was still thinking about the flea. About the words Simon said… his gladness, when he realized Izaya was alright…

How did that happen? Why? Was it because he said he wasn´t afraid of him? Because he said he wasn´t a monster? Why was he so concerned about the flea´s past? Why was he irritated, when he saw the cut up photos in Izayas apartment? Why did he want the flea to be save? To be alive? To not be sick?

He stopped in his tracks.

Did he really love him…?

Just then he noticed, that he hadn´t paid attention, to where he was walking at all. He looked around and realized sighing where he was.

_Great._ Now he had even ended up walking to the flea´s apartment…

He sighed. What was love anyway…? He often heard Shinra talk about it, but he wasn´t a good example he guessed. He had once asked Tom-san what love was…

(Love is, when you feel a sense of belonging. You feel happy when you see her. If you love her you share her feelings, you feel happy when she smiles, you feel sad when she cries. She accepts you the way you are. You want to protect her. You want to make her happy. I think that´s what love is about.)

These had been his words.

Did he feel happy when he saw the flea?

…

He would love to say no, but… somehow it was true. If someone had asked him that a few days ago, he would have asked them if they had some brain damage… He had hated the idea of meeting the flea, but if he thought about unexpectedly running into him now, he didn´t feel opposed at all…

Did he feel happy or sad when the flea was?

He didn´t know. He had never seen the flea smile honestly. Only his smirky grin, but he guessed that didn´t count. But when he imagined the flea crying… it did irritate him. Izaya shouldn´t cry… he didn´t want that… why? He didn´t know… It just bothered him thinking about it.

…

Did he accept him the way he was? Sure did, he knew of his strenght, and his problem with it. Yet… he wasn´t afraid at all… it was true he accepted him the way he was…

Did he want to protect him? Yeah. Honestly, he wanted to. The threatening mail was prove engough… he didn´t want him to die, if really someone had come, he would have protected the flea. And the thought of someone hurting him also drove him nuts.

Tom-san was right, he wanted to make Izaya smile. Not his usual smirky grin, but a genuine smile.

He was right. As delusional it may seemed to be… he had to accept it.

He _loved_ Izaya.

It didn´t matter how it happened, why it happened… it just had happened.

A little smile sneaked over his face.

_Eeh… So that´s what it feels like to love someone_… Not that bad a sensation he had to admit.

Just then a familiar figure caught his attention. It was Izaya, walking out of his apartment. Deep in thoughts Shizuo looked at the informant. He was going to one of his appointments he guessed. Uneasy he remembered the escalated meeting in the morning.

He began following the flea. He didn´t want him to get hurt. And he definitely didn´t want him to be killed. He closed up to Izaya, making sure he wouldn´t lose sight of him this time.

He wanted to protect him. And hell he would make sure the next bastard trying to kill his flea would end up dead.

He paused.

_His flea…?_

Had he just really thought Izaya was his? A smile crept over his face. Why not? He loved him, so why not claim him? That´s right, Izaya had always been _his_ enemy. Now that he thought of it, he never liked it when Izaya got hurt from others than him.

_His_ _Izaya... _

**A few hours later. On the highway. Shizuo point of view. **

Seriously, if he didn´t stop that he would get a heart attack! Ever since he had started following the flea he had been acting far too careless!

He was balancing on railings, jumping down walls, approaching people from gangs or filth that looked like they were going to kill him for a decent meal… It was nerve wrecking!

A few of them even wanted to start a fight, however Izaya evaded these situations by running away when it got to hot. And Shizuo was chasing after him, trying to control his anger, to not knock out a few of these men in the process…

_Fuck!_ It was a real pain in the ass to care about someone who lead such a dangerous life. If he could he would just walk up to the damn flea and tell him to stop doing that stupid shit, but well… he couldn´t exactly do that…

Annoyed he grabbed a smoke. He watched the flea, yet again balancing on the railing next to the road. To the right of the railing he could see the sea, while the highway was on the other side. They were obviously the only ones there, so he had to keep his distance. Angry he followed the raven.

What was wrong with Izaya, that he couldn´t just walk in the city, on the sidewalk, like a normal human? No, he just had to walk on the fucking railing of the highway…

Shizuo thought, when suddenly Izaya slipped and fell flat face to the ground. He snorted.

_Serves him right_. _Maybe he will take the sidewalk now like any normal human being._ He was quite pissed at the flea.

But then he stopped. Something was weird. The flea didn´t get up. Instead he just stayed on the ground, wearing a pained expression.

Shizuo couldn´t believe it.

He facepalmed. _That_ was honestly ironic. All day long he had been doing reckless things that could have gotten him injured or even killed, and now… a little misstep on the railing was all it took for the flea to hurt _himself_. He shook his head. Seriously.

He watched Izaya as he tried to stand up whilst holding onto the railing. He seemed to have twisted his ankle and visibly was trying not to put any weight on it. Even Shizuo could notice that. When he finally achieved standing up straight he took out his phone. Shizuo blew the smoke into the air. He was probably going to call Celty to take him home, he guessed.

"Fuck..! " The sudden swearing caught his attention. The flea was staring at his phone. The screen was black.

No. way. The phone was either dead or broken, but no matter the cause, Izaya couldn´t call anyone right now, and they were in the most solitary part of Ikebukuro.

Accepting his situation Izaya began to drag himself along the road. Shizuo watched him concerned. The highway ended only in a distance of about 4km. Did he really intend to _walk_ all the way there?

Well, given he couldn´t call anyone, it was his only choice. Shizuo was in kind of a pinch, he wanted to help him, but he couldn´t, it would be weird. It wasn´t like he could walk up to the flea and ask him if he needed help…

He decided to call Celty. He would just tell her he needed her to deliver something to Kasuka. Surely she would come over and _concidentally _meet Izaya on the way. Problem solved.

…

…

Or not.

_Shit!_

She didn´t pick up. Neither Celty nor Shinra did... What now? There was no one left he could have called. Worried he looked at the flea. He was still walking, however the pained expression on his face had intensified. Shizuo flinched. He was hurting.

What should he do?

**Change: Izaya point of view.**

Fuck, it hurt!

Today really wasn´t his day. Being assaulted in the morning and twisting his ankle in the afternoon while his phone decided to have a breakdown… What would happen next? Should he prepare for another upcomming disaster?

Furrowing his eyebrows he dragged himself along the road.

_Dammit… this highway is at least 4km long… Fuck…_

He stopped and let himself rest on the railing. It would take hours for him to reach the end…besides, why the hell was there so little traffic today? Not a single car had passed by him up to now. Otherwise he would have already persuaded someone to give him a ride.

He sighed. If just that phone would work, he could call Celty. She would surely come to fetch him. Or Namie, although she would only do it for a little raise of course…

"Oi flea."

Startled he turned around. Well fuck, today really wasn´t his day.

"Ara, Shizu-chan. What are you doing here~?" Shit, somehow he had to get away, he would surely kill him if he didn´t.

"Same to you.", Shizuo simply replied calm, taking one of his cigaretts. Izaya scoffed. Why was he being so calm today? Didn´t suit him at all. Usually he would have thrown something or yelled his name by now.

"Just some business.~ ", he lied.

"While sitting on the railing of a highway? Don´t kid me." Huh? Since when was Shizuo so sharp?

"I am waiting for someone to fetch me.~"

"Tch, don´t fuck with me Izaya, I saw you." Izaya raised his eyebrows confused.

"Huh? What are you talking about Shizu-chan?"

"Cut the crap, I know you hurt yourself before and can´t walk."

Startled Izaya looked at the bartender. He knew?! Oh god, so that´s why he was so calm, he knew Izaya couldn´t run away from him! Shit, he was going to kill him!

What should he do? He looked behind the railing. There was the sea. Dammit, he couldn´t just jump down there. Nervously he shifted around. If he couldn´t get away Shizuo would-

"Here."

Dumbfounded Izaya turned around. He was holding out his phone to him. Completely out of sorts he looked at the bartender.

"Huh..?", not the smartest answer he had ever gotten out of his mouth, but he was just too confused, as to what the blonde tried to do.

"Your phone isn´t working right? Use mine to call somebody to get you." Shizuo explained.

Izayas eyes widened in disbelieve. What the hell had gotten into Shizuo?! Did he actually try to _help_ him?!

"The hell, are you drunk?!", was the first thing that came to his mind. Shizuo frowned at that question.

"No I am not, now call someone before I change my mind." No, no, no, Izaya couldn´t let this slide like that.

"What are you trying to do?", he asked him sternly.

"Huh?"

"Come on Shizu-chan, you seriously don´t expect me to believe you just want to help me~… what´s your purpose?"

"I am not you Izaya, I don´t have any ulterior motive."

Izaya frowned. The hell, then what? What reason could Shizuo possibly have to help him?

_Don´t tell me he is doing it out of pity?!_

"Are you pitiying me?!", Izaya asked with a glare. Shizuo didn´t answer. Angry he clenched his fist.

"The hell?! I am Orihara Izaya, the best informant in whole of Ikebukuro, don´t you dare pity me! I hate you Shizu-chan and you hate me, so stop that crap you dumb imbecile!", he shouted angry and stood up, forgetting the reason he had sat down in the first place. He flinched as the pain shot through his leg, causing him to fall back. He tried to stand up again but he couldn´t. Annoyed he glanced at Shizuo.

Surprisingly he was still just standing there, without saying a single word.

_Huh…? _Perplexed Izaya eyed the bartender. He would have expected him to snap by now, getting angry or at least shout at him after his outburst… but this?He was quiet. Simply quiet, not moving a muscle. He wasn´t holding back his anger like he tried to do it usually… he really just wasn´t angry. Completely staggered he sat on the ground, staring at the blonde.

Suddenly he moved towards him and took his hand. Izaya flinched.

"Just return the phone sometime…"

Surprised he looked at Shizuo as he took his hand and forcibly shoved his phone on it, turned around and walked away without another word.

_The hell…?_

Confused he looked at the phone in his hands and back at Shizuo who just vanished behind a curve of the road.

…

_What was that…?_

**Change. Shizuo point of view. **

_That was close. _

He glanced back a last time to Izaya before he walked away. Good, he was finally using his phone… That damn flea, couldn´t he just accept it when someone tried to help him? He really hadn´t want to hurt him this time. So damn stubborn.

But he was glad he didn´t throw the phone after him when he shoved it forcibly in his hand. If he had done that Shizuo probably would have snapped and just carried the flea back.

He had planned to do that in the first place... thank god he came to his senses before actually doing it.

The flea would have ripped of his head off. Probably not now, but later when they met again…

Thoughtfully he blew the smoke into the air.

…

He said he hated him…

…He sure did.

Shizuo sighed.

…

God…

Why did it have to be Izaya…?

The only person, that despised him from the dephts of his heart… He smiled a broken smile.

_Shit… I chose the wrong person to fall in love with… _

**Ooohh… poor Shizu-chan, but I wouldn´t be too sure about the flea never comming to love you. ^.^ And what´s Izayas „weakness"…? ;D What did you think of this chapter? I hope you liked it. ^.^**

**If you did, then look forward to chapter 4: The incident ;D**

**PS.: My favourite part: **

**Someone had died in that alley.**

**Izaya was in that alley.**

**Izaya fought with knives. (DUN DUN DUUUUUUN XD Just had to do that. XD)**


	4. Chapter 4: The incident

**Thank you for your nice reviews! :D And also for pointing out my mistakes. ^.^ I will take it a liiiiiittle bit slower from now on, not too much, just a bit. :D Oh, and this time I also tried to write the story a bit better concerning mistakes, word repitition and the range of vocabular I am using. XD I hope I didn´t mess up though. XD Well either way: Curtain up for: Chapter 4: The incident.**

**Enjoy! :D**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter 4: The incident**

Total darkness.

Izaya blinked.

Nothing.

Blinked harder.

Yet he didn´t see anything.

He was lying on the ground, surrounded by nothing but black. Why wasn´t there light? Was he underground? He tried to sit up, when suddenly something hard hit his head. Hissing he flinched back. What the hell? Why was there something above his head? Where was- wait, _what´s that noise?_ He stopped.

…

There was something, some kind of racket … Sounded like metal bars scratching over the floor. But why would there-

"Izaya-kun…"

He shivered. That voice. Despite not knowing it, it sent a shiver down his spine. Who? Who was it? Why did it call his name? A bad feeling crept up inside him, as he tried to remember who the owner of this voice was…

"Let´s play a little, Izaya kun ~…"

_Play…?_ The owner of the voice sounded sick. It made him back away, only to realize, that he couldn´t. There was a wooden wall. Behind him, above him... even besides him. He was held captive!

He couldn´t escape!

"Izaya-kun~…"

That voice again! Who was it?! What did it want?! Why was he here?!

Sudden recognition struck Izaya like lightning.

He knew that voice…

"Izaya-kun~…"

He knew why he was here…

"No…", he whispered.

He knew what they wanted…

"Let´s play Izaya-kun…"

"NO!", screaming he began to trash around. He scratched at the wood above him, his fingers digging in harshly in attempt to find escape.

"Izaya-kun…"

"NO! NO! STAY AWAY!" Crying in frustration his fist met the wood with a sharp cracking sound. It wasn´t the wood that cracked. Terror took him over as he slammed his fists against the resistance again and again.

Suddenly the prison opened and a only too well known face looked down on him. Smiling crazy.

"It´s high time, Izaya-kun…"

"NO!"

Izaya shot up, hands clutching his chest and head. A shiver ran down his spine as he looked hastily around, overwhelmed by his tremors.

His breath came in short gasps as he scanned his surroundings.

It wasn´t dark anymore, it was bright. The suns rays were shining through his roller blind, leaving white spots on the bed. Silence rang across the room only disturbed by his heavy breathing. He looked down himself. He was sitting on the floor to the right of his bed. Sheets were lying on the ground and he was covered in sweat.

His shivering calmed a bit, as he realized he had been dreaming.

"Shit…!", he hid his face behind his hands.

_That_ was one hell of a dream... His body was breaking out in a cool sweat. He breathed deeply, trying to suppress his anxiety, building by the minute.

He clenched his eyes shut, trying to push down the horrible memories and subdue them in his consciousness. Just pushing them back would be enough. He knew he wouldn´t forget it, he never would, but he wanted to ignore them at least.

He dragged himself out of his room. Noticing, that his ankle was almost fine again.

Trying to claw himself away from the nightmare he walked down the stairs to the kitchen to get some water.

The feeling of moving already seemed to cool him down a bit. It drove away the feeling of confinement. He sighed in pleasure, as the cool liquid ran down his throat. It was calming.

"God…", he put the glass back on the table. He hadn´t had that dream in a while. Now it was hitting him again like a wave, haunting him in his sleep.

He sighed. At least he was awake now. Awake and conscious of it happening a looooong time ago. Wanting to get rid of these sweaty clothes he went back to his bedroom.

It was when he picked up the sheets on the floor that he noticed a certain phone lying on his bedside table.

Shizuo´s phone…

Honestly, he would have preferred to dream about the brute instead of… _this_…

Despite being his enemy… _if _he still was. He crooked an eyebrow. Right, he _had _been acting really weird the day before.

With newfound interest he went to the bedside table and picked it up. Curious he browsed through his contacts. But besides Celty, Shinra, Tom and Kasuka´s number there was nothing that caught his attention. He sighed and dropped himself on the newly made bed.

_What was going on with Shizuo yesterday anyway? _

Not only was he way more calmer than usual, no he actually _helped_ him. Despite Izaya not wanting to admit it, Shizuo did save him quite a bit. If he hadn´t given Izaya the phone he would have had to walk all the way to the end of the highway…

Frowning he looked at the object in question.

_But why?_ Sure he would understand it if he were some stranger, maybe a kid or a woman, Shizuo wasn´t cold hearted he would help out those just as much, but him? Even if he was actually pitying Izaya, helping him? His enemy? Orihara Izaya? The one guy he wanted to seriously kill?

He shook his head in confusion. Something really must have been wrong with him the day before.

_Maybe he really was drunk? _

Would be a possibility. He denied it, but hey, which drunk would admit being drunk? He sighed… that Shizuo, he always did the most unexpected things… He glanced at the clock on his bedside table.

8 am.

He stood up and grabbed his furry coat. If he was already awake he could at least begin to work, that way he would be able to finish earlier. He glanced at Shizuo´s phone, still holding it in his hand and shoved it into his coat.

Normally he simply would have kept it, but…

…

…maybe he would stop by to give it back to Shizuo today…

**A few hours later on top of a roof. Shizuo point of view. **

What should he do?

Deep in thoughts Shizuo was lying on the ground, staring at the floating clouds in the sky. He had been out here since he woke up. His thoughts only circling around the flea… At least he had come to a conclusion. He really loved the flea. But somehow that knowledge made him also feel… kinda lost.

There was no way Izaya would ever, in his whole life return these feelings…

…

What should he do?

Izaya would be crept out if he knew. Besides, he doubted the flea would actually believe it if he ever confessed. Well, he couldn´t blame him. If he imagined Izaya confessing his love to him, he wouldn´t believe him as well…

He blew the smoke into the air and watched it as it slowly faded away. Blown out by the wind.

…

Maybe, if he ignored it for a while… would this love also fade away…?

…

Izaya hated him, and that wasn´t going to change. Shizuo knew, that he probably wouldn´t throw any signs or vending machines after the flea so soon. He didn´t want to hurt him… but he had to ignore these feelings…

Couldn´t he just ignore them, till they disappeared… ?

…

Would they if he did…?

**Somewhere in an alley not far from Shizuo. Izaya point of view. **

Agitated Izaya turned around. Prepared to be attacked he drew out his knife from the furry coats pocket. The cold metal calmed him down a bit as he scanned his surroundings.

Silence.

He seemed to be alone. No one was coming after him. Irritated he approached the end of the alley.

The footsteps he heard before had also disappeared…

"Weird…", he mumbled to himself. He could have sworn someone was following him before. Not to mention this feeling of being stared at. He swiped open his phone and gladly realized that he had already finished all of his appointments for today.

Maybe he should try getting up this early more often. It saved him a lot of time… Although he had also been faster than usual in dealing with his clients today. They were all surprisingly cooperative. He almost found it a bit fishy…

Not yet letting down his guard he went on in the direction of his apartment.

_Did they imprison Shingeki already?_ He wondered as he made his way home. He had tried to kill him, so Izaya blew his cover and ratted him out to the police. Drug dealing wasn´t that delicate of a matter. They surely had arrested him by now.

But…

It was strange…

Ever since he had walked out of his apartment today he got that feeling that he was being watched. After you get caught by the police, you can´t just make calls and hire a killer. The guards are watching you every second. Did he hire another one beforehand?

There were only two options. Either he was paranoid… or Shingeki really was smarter than he thought he was…

Restless he speed up his steps. The second option wasn´t that probable but even then the possibility of it being true made him feel uneasy.

Deep in thoughts he looked into the sky. It was clear, no unnecessary clouds invading the blue horizon.

Suddenly something else caught his attention. A stroke of familiar blonde hair moved into his vision. Shizuo was standing on the roof of a high-rise leaning on the railing and smoking one of his cigarets.

Curious Izaya watched the bartender.

Right, he still had his phone…

He grinned.

Maybe he should pay him a visit…

**On the rooftop. Both point of view. **

…

Frustrated he blew the smoke of his cigarette into the air.

_Dammit…_ he didn´t know love could be that confusing… He looked down the railing. Lots of people were running around on the streets, busy with whatever they were doing. Shizuo watched them for a while.

Izaya probably was also somewhere down there. Meeting clients and risking his life he bet…

…

He wouldn´t say it…

The flea would just either freak out or straight out tease him with it… He would do well without that. He tilted his head upwards and watched the drifting clouds in the sky. For the moment he would just stop fighting with him… but Izaya surely would suspect something was up if he did that.

Maybe he should just avoid Izaya for a while…?

"Ara, what a concidence~"

He flinched as he suddenly heard the voice of the person in question. Surprised he turned to the right. Izaya was just coming up the firecase smiling his usual smirky grin.

"Hello Shizu-chan~"

_That much for avoiding the flea…_

"What are you doing here?", he asked the raven.

"Oh you know Shizu-chan I saw you from the streets below, and", he drew out Shizuo´s phone of his furry coat.

"I thought I would give you back your phone… Which you lent me ever so _kindly_ yesterday…"

Curious to his reaction Izaya eyed the blonde. He still seemed to keep up that weird calm posture…

_What happened?_ Since the day he first met the brute he always lashed out at him immediately, didn´t even give him a minute for a normal conversation before he began throwing things after him… but now? What had changed the bartender so considerably…? Izaya was honestly curious. He threw over the phone. Shizuo caught it.

"Ah, thanks." He shifted it into his pocket and to Izayas disbelieve, started walking away, leaving a perplexed flea behind. Not trusting his eyes Izaya stood next to the railing of the high-rise watching as Shizuo opened the door leading back inside the building.

_That´s all? Thanks?! _Normally he would have said things like: Took you long enough louse, or I hope you didn´t mess with it, flea or something along those lines… really it didn´t matter what, but a simple „thanks"?! Izaya frowned, why was he acting so out of Character?!

"Wait!" Shizuo stopped in his stracks and turned around. Obviously surprised by the fleas sudden outburst.

"What?"

Shit. He blurted that one out without thinking before. The way Shizuo acted made him lose his concept… Izaya sighed. As if Shizuo hadn´t seen him losing his concept before… Moreover he already lost his facade so, why not skip the petty talk and just come down straight to the point?

"…Why did you help me yesterday?"

Shizuo flinched. _Shit…_ that was the one question he wanted to avoid… Dammit he had to come up with something good, otherwise the flea would pester him endlessly…

"Why do you want to know?"

Izaya sighed. So he answered his question with another one... and there he was already hoping for a decent answer.

"Shizu-chan, that´s not fair avoiding my question, come on, answer me. For once I am really curious about what _you_ have to say~" he leapt over the railing and balanced along the edge of the building, just like he did with that suicidal girl weeks before. He extended his arms and began walking alongside the abyss.

He wouldn´t let Shizuo of the hook now. He was the great informant of Ikebukuro. There was nothing that he didn´t know. And it certainly should stay that way.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh…?" Izaya turned around to glance at Shizuo. Suddenly he came closer, while grabbing another smoke as his eyes were locked on the flea.

"You have a death wish or what?" he pointed to where he was standing.

Izaya looked at the bartender in confusion, only to break out in laughter seconds later.

"What´s so funny?!" the blonde asked annoyed.

Still laughing he continued his carefree walk.

"Shizu-chan, I have walked here countless times before, trust me I know what I am doing."

"You do know that you are standing on the 5th floor of a high-rise?!"

"Yeah, so?"

"If you misstep you´re dead!"

"Oooh~ Shizu-chan is worried~ how sweet… Haha.", Izaya chuckled.

"Of course not you bastard." Shizuo gritted between his teeth.

Shit, actually he was…! If the flea fell down there even he wouldn´t stand up again. He would be dead. For real. He moved a bit closer to Izaya. Only a few feet were between them.

"It´s my duty to finish you off, so come back over here you damn louse!" Surprised Izaya cocked his eyebrow.

_Eeeh~ Shizuo sounds really angry… _

He smirked. _That´s_ what he wanted. He didn´t know why, but he seemed to piss Shizuo off by what he was doing. He began hoping around.

"Oi you..!" Shizuo hissed.

"Haha, what? Do I get on your nerves Shizu-chan~?", he giggled amused.

"Yeah you are!"

He stretched out his arms and began to whirl around.

"You are definitely underestimating my balancing ability, Shizu-chan~"

He was fucking enjoying this!

"Drop the Shizu-chan. You misstepped on a fucking highway railing yesterday, so don´t tell me about your perfect balancing ability!"

Izaya frowned at that comment. Now _he_ was getting on his nerves.

"Shizu-chan, _that _was just the outcome of my not paying enough attention. When I am up here I am way more careful. But I guess that´s too hard for your little brain to comprehend~" he hissed between tight lips. He was still highly displeased by the fact that Shizuo had _seen_ him, and to top that even _helped_ him in that particular situation…

Which lead him back to the question he asked the blond before. He still hadn´t answered it. However he didn´t seem to intend doing that, as he suddenly began moving.

"Tch… you know what flea, fuck yourself, I don´t care!" Angry Shizuo turned around and walked slowly away. Not intentionally leaving him of course. But maybe Izaya would chase after him if he was the first to go.

"Hah?! Oi you still haven´t answered my question Shizu-chan!"

He glanced worried over his shoulder seeing a quite upset Izaya. Relieved he saw how the flea climbed back over the railing.

"What makes you think I am going to answe-" Suddenly it happened.

Both of them were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn´t even notice a shadow leaning behind one of the flues. They didn´t notice how he was standing there, eagerly observing the situation. And both of them didn´t see it coming when he suddenly dashed out of his hiding. Approaching Izaya in a matter of seconds, and shoved him back.

It had been just a few seconds of inattentiveness, just a tiny push, however it was enough.

Completely taken by surprise Izaya had no time to react. No time to shove him away, to cling back to the railing, or regain his footing. His eyes widened in fear as he lost his balance and felt himself fall backwards. Time seemed to move in slow motion. Izaya didn´t recognize the man. He didn´t know why he wanted to kill him. But he knew that he would succeed. The railing was already too far away to grip. There was nothing in his reach he could hold on to. Unbearable fear crept up inside.

He didn´t want to die… His heart beat accelerated at a high speed.

NO! HE DIDN´T WANT TO DIE…!

Then he fell.

Time froze up.

Shizuo had seen that shadow approaching Izaya. He had pushed. He had shoved the flea of the railing. Only for a second he had seen the fear crawling over his face.

Now he fell.

He would crash on the streets of Ikebukuro.

He would die.

"IZAYA!"

Before Shizuo could even think about what he was doing he dashed to the edge of the building and leapt over it as fast as he could, following the flea in his fall. He didn´t think about the consequences of falling down from such a height.

He only thought of Izaya.

Only Izaya.

Nothing else.

Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, as he actually reached the falling flea and pulled him closer which was already a wonder in itself. Immediately Izaya grabbed, whatever it was that reached out to him. His eyes were closed tightly, his mouth slightly opened for a silent scream that never left his lips.

Without trouble Shizuo switched their positions still in open air, in the midst of falling. Izaya still clinging to him for his life.

A loud thud welcomed them as they finally touched the ground. People screamed. Shizuo flinched. His body hurt. However it didn´t matter, only concerned about Izaya he pulled himself up. The flea was lying on top of him.

"Oi! Izaya!" Worried he shook the flea. He flinched at the touch. Overly relieved Shizuo realized that he was alive. Damn, who was that bastard?! He fucking tried to kill Izaya! A shudder ran down his spine as he imagined what would have happened if he was only a second late…

A quick look over Izayas body told him that the informant wasn´t seriously hurt. At least he wasn´t bleeding. Unlike Shizuo. He seemed to have hit something sharp and felt a warm liquid running down his back as he sat up. Izaya was still just sitting on his lap and clinging to his shirt, not moving a muscle. Shizuo stopped in his tracks. Why wasn´t he saying anything?!

"Izaya?!" worried he gently shook the flea a second time. Eyes still widened in fear he slowly looked up. Face white as a wall.

"Sh-shizuo…?", he whispered disbelieving. He was shaking like a leaf.

Completely taken aback Shizuo eyed the flea. Did he just call him _Shizuo_?! Still resting his hands on Izaya´s shoulders he realized how bad he was shivering. He must have been scared as hell… Without thinking twice he tugged the flea towards him and coiled his hands around him.

"Shhh, it´s alright, you aren´t dead flea." He felt the informants tremors as he whispered the soothing words. But he didn´t struggle. Quite the opposite. He felt Izaya´s hands grab his shirt tighter and hide his face in his shoulder.

Shit, that really scared him. He had never seen Izaya like that. It tore him apart inside. Not knowing what he should do Shizuo just continued whispering soothing words. At least they seemed to calm down the flea.

The two of them stayed like that for a couple of minutes. Not sure, when he should let go of Izaya… Suddenly Shizuo realized that people were eyeing them curiously. He cleared his throat.

"Oi Izaya." Slowly said informant began to move and looked Shizuo in the eye. He still didn´t seem like he could comprehend what just happened.

"You okay…?", Shizuo asked worried.

Sudden realization obviously hit the fleas face as he rapidly backed away from Shizuo. His mouth opened a few times, however no words seemed to come out.

Shizuo chuckled slightly at the sight of a speechless flea.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" That question earned him a slight blush on Izaya´s cheeks. Bewildered he stood up.

"Fuck you Shizu-chan!" he spat between tight lips and ran off as fast as he could.

Shizuo was still sitting on the ground looking after the escaping flea. A puddle of blood had slowly formed underneath him. By now people were already getting hysterical and calling the ambulance. Shizuo sighed and hastily got up. He hated the hospital, Shinra would suffice in patching him up. Earning more screams as he walked away he made his move to Shinra´s house.

One last time he looked up to the top of the high-rise where the two of them had fallen of. He furrowed his eyebrows in worry. Who was that bastard from before? He nearly managed to kill the flea. If Shizuo found him he would beat him up to a pulp. Angry he drew one of his cancer sticks out of his pocket. To scare the flea like that. He remembered the flea´s heavy shaking. Annoyed he clenched his teeth... No… He changed his mind. If he saw that guy ever again, he wouldn´t beat him up, he would _kill_ him!

However the anger quickly subsided as he remembered the feeling when he held the flea close. He couldn´t prevent a little smile from appearing on his face. It had felt so right. Holding the person he loved so close to him. While doing this he realized how perfect the flea fit in his arms. And that face he made when he realized what he had been doing in his confusion.

"Aww, shit…", he slapped a hand over his now broadly smiling mouth. What should he do? His heart skipped a beat when he called him Shizuo. Not Shizu-chan, but his real name…

"Fuck, it´s Heiwajima Shizuo!"

"Kyaaaa! He´s bleeding!"

"No, maybe it´s not his blood!"

"Did he kill someone?!"

He caused quite the commotion going through Ikebukuro with a bloody back. Lots of people were staring at him, with those eyes. Those, that Shizuo hated so much, however he didn´t care. Fuck yea, he felt happy. Not even those shitty people could get him down from his high. He didn´t care anymore, because the only thing he did care about now, was Izaya.

**Izayas apartment. A little later. Izaya point of view. **

"What the hell?!"

Izaya had been rushing home and was now sitting in his beloved chair, thinking about what happened before. He was relieved that he was alive, hell yeah he really was, but the adrenaline in his blood was still pumping through his veins. Probably mostly because he had been running home like a freak…

"God…" Sure, he was glad he was alive, but when it came to the reasons why this was the case… Izaya slapped his hand on his face.

Shizuo. Shizuo Heiwajima. His enemy, his most hated foe, had saved his life!

The instant he fell down from the high-rise he jumped after him… Just like that, without any second thought it seemed. He twisted them around so that he would take the harm.

_WHY?!_ He didn´t get it. He couldn´t think of any reason, why he would do this. First he helps him get home the day before, and then he saves his live?! _What the hell is going on with him?!_

But that wasn´t the only thing that made Izaya´s mind do a backflip. The second thing that ticked him off, was the way he reacted… Fuck, he thought he was gonna die! That fall scared the shit outta him. Even when he was already back on safe ground, he still was shocked. He really thought this was the end. He simply couldn´t comprehend, that he survived that just now.

And then he even let that brute comfort him!?

"Why did he do that in the first place?!" he yelled and threw a coffee mug across the room. He was glad Namie had her day off today.

"What the hell...", he leaned back in his chair. He always knew Shizuo was unpredictable, but these action redefined the meaning of that word completely…

A sudden *pling* from his phone gained his attention. He frowned as he saw who sent it.

It was from Shingeki-san.

Curious he opened it.

**Orihara-san, I warned you. Yet you seem to think you are invulnerable. I would like to convince you otherwise. I got your lovely note.**

_**Playing with fire burns…**_** I wanna show you this doesn´t only apply to me.**

**Sayonara Orihara-san**

Izaya crooked his eyebrow. So that guy on the roof today was sent by Shingeki. Shitty bastard, that was all his fault! Well he wondered how he would react when he heard that he survived the assault.

Wait… A sudden thought crossed his mind. That SMS had been sent _after_ he read the little note. But in fact Izaya arranged it that Shingeki would get his little message only _after_ he was confined. In the first 24 hours new prisoners weren´t allowed to communicate with anyone, no matter if it was via phone or verbally. But… if that really was the case, then how-

He didn´t get to finish his sentence, when suddenly a wet cloth was shoved in his mouth. He wanted to scream, but as soon as he inhaled he recognized the acid smell.

Chloroform.

He attempted to hold his breath, while trying to fend of his enemies. But the smell had already gotten to him a bit. His sight was blurry and his predators didn´t seem bothered by his struggles. He wasn´t able to defend himself at all. Anxious he noticed his need of air, still having shoved the chloroform soaked cloth in his mouth.

"Breath you bastard." A raspy voice laughed as he held down the informant.

_Shit… It´s over. _ He didn´t stand a chance. He wouldn´t get out of it this time. He held his breath for a few more moments, but the necessity for air won him over. He inhaled the chloroform and slowly drifted into unconciousness…

**Oh no! What´s gonna happen to Izaya..?! :O Muhahahaha. XD Oh yeah, it´s a cliffhanger. XD I am so evil. XD**

**So, what did you think about this chapter? :D I hope I didn´t make too many mistakes. **** (If I did, please tell me, otherwise I won´t find them. ^.^) **

**Look forward to: Chapter 5: You gonna help me?! **

**PS.: Next chapter is one of my personal favourite! That´s when the real shit happens. XD Just sayin´ ^_^**


	5. Chapter 5: You gonna help me?

**Thank**** you all for your really nice reviews! ~ *0* ~**

**Triggering-Death: **You have no idea how happy you make me! XD Being told by my most favourite Shizaya author that she likes my story is just… Woooaaaaaah! *0* I feel so honored! :´D Oh, and for the reviews, you deserved every single one of them, cause you are great! :D Already curious for the votes outcome. -^.^- And to everyone else who reads this: Check her stories out, they are fantastic! *0*

**IkaruSakurai: **Thank you very much for pointing out my mistakes! :D I wouldn´t have found those if it weren´t for you. :3 I really appreciate your help! :D

**LovelyDomination: **Thank you, I am glad to hear you like my story so much! :3 And also thank you for leaving a review to every chapter so far! :D Makes me really happy! ~ :3

**Butt: **I am so happy to hear that~! Your comment made my week! :´3 And don´t worry, this fic is gonna be looong, so you have a lot to look forward too. XD (If it´s continuing to be interesting that is. ^.^ ) Oh, and you were right about the "something bigger is about to start"-part. ;D

**Well and with that said, let´s quickly turn to one ****of**** my ****most**** favourite chapters. **

**Enjoy! :D**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter 5: You gonna help me?!**

**Evening. Shinra´s house. Shizuo point of view.**

"Please~?"

"No. Now shut up, Shinra."

Shizuo had gone to Shinra´s place a few hours before. Apparently, when he fell down the building to save Izaya, he landed on the edge of a pavement. At least that´s what it looked like Shinra said. The doctor had sewed up his back, so it wasn´t bleeding anymore.

The only thing he was fussing over now, was how amazing his body was, since he didn´t break his spine or take any other serious injuries from the fall. And because of that he was now pestering to let him do some tests with him. Like hell he would…

"I said no." Shizuo repeated annoyed.

"But please! Shizuo, your body is really fascinating. I want to ascertain, how it works. After such a fall a normal human would have probably been dead or at least paralyzed for life ..."

Shizuo flinched.

_Paralyzed or dead_.

Shinra though didn´t notice this and just went on rambling what else could have happened… and the different cases certainly weren´t lovely…

Honestly, the more Shinra went on babbling the more he was glad he reached the flea in time.

"…you could also have smashed open your skull, or landed on a street sign, then you would have been impaled, or- ah! Celty~Darling~! Okaeri~3"

Glad Shinra stopped talking about things that made Shizuo´s stomach do a backflip he saw Celty coming in. Quickly she typed on her PDA when she saw Shizuo.

(Tadaima.)

The next message was directed at him.

(Hello Shizuo, what are you doing here?) Leaning forward while cuddling up to his beloved, Shinra also read what she wrote and answered faster than Shizuo could.

"Ah, he fell down from a high-rise." Shinra explained nonchalantly. Obviously shocked Celty quickly went on typing.

(What?! Are you okay?! What happened?!)

"Ah no, don´t worry, it´s nothing serious.", Shizuo replied trying to reassure the concerned dullahan.

(Nothing serious?!)

"Calm down Celty, I already patched him up, he is okay." Shinra tried to convince her.

"But you could help me darling, I want to convince Shizuo letting me take some tests. He just won´t let me." He pouted.

"Right, I am fine and he is an annoying fly.", Shizuo confirmed nodding.

"Shizuo! How mean!"

Celty began typing again in a calmer fashion.

(So you´re really okay. I am glad. :) But… why did you fall from a high-rise in the first place?)

"Yeah, you didn´t tell me either, what happened?" Shinra also asked dropping his pestering for a while.

"That´s…"

Shit, he hadn´t thought of that yet. What should he tell Celty and Shinra…? He couldn´t just say he jumped after Izaya to save his life. Well he could tell Celty, but definitely not Shinra. The doctor wouldn´t shut up if he knew he currently loved the flea…

Shizuo shrugged his shoulders nonchalant.

"It was an accident" he answered simply. Almost true.

"An accident?", Shinra echoed. "…who falls accidentally of a building?" Shinra cocked an eyebrow.

Celty began typing again.

(You should take better care of you…)

"Ah sorry, didn´t want to worry you."

(Nevermind. What about this job of yours?)

"Yeah, I heard about it, what are you doing Shizuo? Tell me!", the instant Celty had shown Shizuo her PDA the question had already piqued Shinra´s interest.

"You… weren´t you the one that spread that info through Ikebukuro?!" Guilt crawled over the doctors face as Shizuo asked him angry. Since even Simon knew it he must have really run off his mouth…

"Well, could be… I was just so curious. I mean, what in the world could you be doing that you can´t even tell Celty about it?" And again eyes filled with curiosity were locked with the blondes. He sighed. Shinra was a lost case…

"Doesn´t matter anymore. I quit the job." He replied simple and grabbed one of his cigarets.

"Ha? What do you mean you quit the job?"

"What I said, I quit."

(Why so soon?)

"The guy who gave me the job was getting on my nerves.", that was the only answer Shizuo came up with. And well, it was somewhat true. Celty still didn´t seem satisfied with his answer though, however Shinra saved him the trouble having to answer more questions regarding that topic as he went on rambling about something else.

"Eh, that means you have no job now right? I mean Tanaka-san is in Russia fort wo weeks I heard."

Shizuo nodded. He didn´t know Tom-san was in Russia, but the fact that he was away for the next two weeks was true. Also the fact that Shizuo didn´t have work during that time... Smiling Shinra clapped his hands together.

"Well then Shizuo, how about-"

"No."

"Eh, you didn´t even let me finish my sentence~" Shinra said huffy.

"No need to do it. I know what you wanna say either way, and no, for the last time, I am not going to do some stupid tests."

"They aren´t stupid! They could provide me with really useful information! And they-"

"Yeah, yeah, you told me that a hundred times already."

He stood up and put back on his still bloody shirt and bartender jacket.

"Either way, thanks for patching me up Shinra, bye."

"Eh? Wait!" Shinra called, however Celty conveniently kept a hold of him with her shadows.

"Celty, why are you stopping me~", Shinra pouted. However Celty just ignored him. She went on typing.

(I am holding him back. :) Take care.)

Shizuo laughed.

"Thanks."

„Nooooo, Celty~~"

**-Outside-**

_Finally_. Shizuo sighed and reached into his pocket to get another smoke. If he didn´t make his leave now Shinra would never have stopped to pester him…

But really… after this day, for the first time in his life Shizuo was glad he had that strength that Shinra wanted to analyse so badly. If he hadn´t, he wouldn´t have been able to save the flea.

Maybe… just maybe he could use this monster side of his for a gentler porpuse…

He tilted his head towards Simon´s Shushi restaurant as he saw his brother Kasuka standing in front of it. He seemed to be making a promotional video.

Shizuo smiled, his brother surely would also be thrilled if he used his strength another way.

A sudden commotion interrupted his thoughts. A group of teenagers, probably members of a colour gang as they were all wearing something red, were agitated talking about something.

Shizuo wasn´t really interested in their conversation, he hated violence, and the colour gangs used way too much of it. If it was him he would prefer to stay away from those people.

However as he went past them he did catch some phrases.

"Don´t shit me!"

"No it´s true, they really got him this time!"

"That´s not possible."

"It sure is!"

"I saw it with my own eyes! They dragged him out of his apartment and threw him in a van!"

"For real?!"

"Tch, high time, that bastard only made trouble."

" But really who would have thought someone would actually get him…"

"Yeah, serves him right, that stupid informant."

Shizuo had just walked past them, as he caught that final sentence. The word _informant_ startled him. As soon as he heard it the picture of a certain individual popped up in his mind.

However he immediately disregarded it. There was simply no way they were talking about _that_ informant. He already set off to walk away, as one last statement reached his ears.

" Ikebukuro will be more peaceful from now on, without that asshole Orihara."

Shizuo stopped in his tracks and turned around. What did they say? Did they really say Orihara? No way, they couldn´t be talking about the flea. There was no way he would ever let himself get captured…

Uneasy he approached the guys.

"Hey you.", he went up to the guy who mentioned Izaya´s last name before. He wanted to find out if it really was Orihara _Izaya_ they were talking about.

However he didn´t get to ask that question. Fuck his reputation, as soon as they recognized the bartender outfit and his blonde hair they just scrammed. So he was left standing, with no reliable information at hand.

But they did say Orihara… maybe he misheard?

Must be it, the flea would never get caught that easily.

…

He wouldn´t right…?

**Somewhere else. A bit earlier. Izaya point of view. **

"Urgh…"

Where was he? He opened his eyes, however there was a really bright blinding light, which immediately made him close them again.

_What the hell happened..?!_

His head hurt… And he felt really dizzy. Up seemed to be down and left was exchanged with right… They must have given him something while he was out cold. At least he wasn´t a person that easily got nauseous from dizziness.

Only barely he could remember what happened before he passed out. Right, he was sitting in his apartment, when suddenly these men had taken him by surprise and knocked out with chloroform.

Fucking chloroform, that was so clicheé…

Slowly the informant tried to move. However it didn´t take long for him to notice, that he couldn´t.

He was tied up. Moving was impossible. He opened his eyes squinting. A floodlight was standing right in front of him. After a few seconds though his eyes accustomed to the brightness. So he was able to notice that he was actually sitting on a chair. And the inability to move his hands came from the rope that tied his wrists to the armrests.

A quick check on his body told him, that he hadn´t been injured at least … till now that was. He sighed. Well, he had been in worse situations.

Curious he eyed his surroundings. He was sitting on this chair alone in a spacious warehouse it seemed. Lots of furniture was stacked on either side of the hall. He was the only one in the hall sitting between the goods. However he was sure it wouldn´t stay that way for long.

As if to confirm his thoughts suddenly one of the doors on the right side of the hall opened and five men approached the raven.

"Oh, the sleeping princess woke up."

"Oh my, so you are the lovely individuals that captured my humble self?~" Izaya sang sarcastical. However instead of getting angry the men just grinned in a weird way.

" Just continue pretending to be cool, you won´t be able to sustain that attitude for long." Irritated by their words Izaya decided to drop the crappy act and get down to business.

"What do you want? Information, money?"

These were after all 99% of the time the things people were after if they attempted or this time succeeded kidnapping him. However the next reaction made Izaya frown a bit. They just began to laugh…

_The hell…? What´s so funny?_

Suddenly one of the men approached the informant and whispered into his ear.

"You can keep your information and money Orihara, we are after something else…"

Izaya tilted his head with a questioned look. Something else? What the hell did they plan on doing with him?

Still keeping his cool he watched the man as he returned to his companions.

There was no need to panic. As he got back the feeling of touch he noticed, that they took away almost all of his knives. Almost. A single one was left, and conveniently it was the tiny one he kept hidden in his sleeve.

Feeling the soothing cold metal against his wrist he analysed the situation.

As far as he could see, there was only one exit in this hall that actually lead to the outside. About 50 meters in front of him in the middle of the hall. There were two windows right above the door, through which he could see the blue sky.

The distance was no problem, as fast as he was they wouldn´t get him in time. If the door was locked, the he would just smash it open. As far as he saw it was just the ordinary kind of door. And even if he didn´t get it to open he would just have to fight of those guys. He had a knife, so fuck them... they wouldn´t get him.

Certainly he would have to praise them for thinking of binding him. However if they really wanted to restrain him they should have made the knot tighter. He wiggled his hand around making the rope loose up a bit, so that he had just enough space to fish out the knife in his sleeve.

He secretly cut through the rope that bound his right hand to the armrest. However after finishing this he didn´t send his plan into action. Instead he just remained seated. After all he wanted to find out, what they wanted.

However they were still just standing over there and discussing agitatedly.

"Oi, lovely humans, mind to tell me what ya plan on doing with me?~", he called out. One of them turned around.

"Shut up, you will soon enough get to see what we planned… But for now we have to wait for the boss to arrive."

Izaya cocked his eyebrow.

The boss? So they weren´t taking action on their own. Indeed, he could have guessed that already. No ordinary gang group would dare try to kidnap him. But on whose orders did they do it…?

…

_Shingeki…?_

Would be a possibility. After all his last message implied something like this was going to happen. He didn´t know how, but that bastard seemed to have slipped out of prison.. or at least that´s what he thought had happened. He couldn´t think of any other way he could have gotten his message and written back…

He sighed. Well at least it was some rational bastard he had to deal with. If he tempted him with the right information or deal he could get out of here without even a scratch.

"Hey you, I have a deal. Tell Shingeki if you let me go this instant I am willing to give him all the information he wants."

He would lose a pretty wealthy client then though, but that didn´t matter. He had enough other pawns that he could manipulate.

Sudden laughter cut off his thoughts. Irritated he glared at them.

"What the hell are you laughing at?!" he asked annoyed.

"You know Orihara, Shingeki-san is not the one that ordered us to fetch you."

Perplexed Izaya eyed the guy. It was not Shingeki? That didn´t make any sense at all, then why did he get that message from him?! He didn´t get it, what was going on?!

If it really wasn´t him, then who on earth held a grudge that deep against him? He seriously hadn´t done anything big recently…

So who…?

Suddenly the man approached Izaya again.

"What´s wrong? You have gotten so quiet all of a sudden. I bet you don´t even know who it is that´s after your life." He laughed insane.

After his life?! Wait, they only brought him here to kill him?! So, that´s why they were waiting, their "boss", whoever it was, probably wanted to see his death with his own eyes. Izaya shivered as he figured out their purpose of bringing him here to an empty warehouse.

Okay, now he didn´t want to wait any longer. Once the boss arrived things could get a bit risky. And he certainly didn´t plan on dying yet. A smirk crawled over his face.

_... time to leave._

"Ara! So it was you that wanted to kill me, what a surprise!~", he yelled and looked purposely behind the five men.

They turned around.

_Haha, they are so stupid, they actually fell for it…_ Izaya smirked and swiftly cut the second rope binding his left hand to the armrest. Without losing a single second he dashed to the door of freedom.

"Shit, he is escaping!" they finally noticed Izaya messed around with them. However Izaya was already at the door.

Lucky he realized that it was actually open and snickered as he hoped out of it. Still hearing the shouting of his followers.

Only now he noticed that he wasn´t quite outside yet. It was the roof he had escaped to. Backing away from the door he quickly viewed his new territory in a matter of seconds. He didn´t have much longer, because only a heartbeat later all five of them rushed out of the door.

Izaya held his breath to not be discovered. Actually he was standing right behind the door. Yeah, behind the door, like some elementary school kid that´s playing hide and seek. However one should not underestimate this hiding place.

Simply because it was so obvious no-one would guess he was here. And he was right, not even once did the five men turn around to look back as they slowly went on.

With unease he realized that they each held a gun in their hand. He gulped. If that door hadn´t been open before they would have shot him dead…

Trying not to make any noise or sudden movement Izaya slowly made his way back through the door he came before. Judging by the height it seemed he was on the second floor of this warehouse so his only option was to go back and search for the staircase.

"THERE HE IS!" Shit they had found him! Quickly he dashed into the hall. He had no time to search for the exit, he had to hide. Fast!

_**BANG **_

"Shoot that bastard down!"

_**BANG BANG**_

"Where did he go?!"

"I don´t know!"

"Fuck! Call the others, they have to watch the exit!"

"Got it!"

Relieved Izaya noticed their voices moving away. When he had been discovered he immediately heaved himself over a cupboard and crawled to the back of the piled up goods till he reached the wall, before they could see him. The cupboard, a mound of stocked chairs and two beds were now between him and the open hall. He himself had a fair amount of space. The two mentioned beds were placed vertically and so they made kind of a hideout.

Shaking he held his side as his back started sliding down the wall painting it with crimson in the process.

_Fuck…_ The second bullet got him. Trying to examine his wound he moved his hand away. Good, none of his organs had been affected it seemed, but fuck he was bleeding a lot. Breaking out in a cool sweat he pressed down on the injury while trying to recollect his thoughts.

He had to get out of here. Now. But… how? He had heard them before. They were saying something about telling the others to watch the exit … Shit, that wasn´t good at all.

Trying to cover up his wound Izaya tried to wrap his coat around it, as he suddenly noticed something in his pocket.

He would have laughed if it hadn´t exposed him. They fucking forgot to take his phone from him! Finally seeing a string of hope Izaya scrolled through his contacts. It was the phone he used for his clients only, but hey better than nothing. He called the first one on the list.

**Michigarawa**: Hello?

**Izaya**: Well hello, long time no see~

He whispered with a faint voice.

**Michigawara**: Orihara?!

**Izaya**: Yeah right, ah but don´t worry, I am not calling you for your money, you can still pay me back later. In fact, I would consider paying all your depths, if you help me out, Michigawara-kun.

**Michigawara**: Help…?

The raven didn´t care by now if he actually trampled over his pride by admitting he needed help. His side hurt too much to fuss over that. So he continued whispering.

**Izaya**: Yeah that´s right, you see, I have been shot and currently can´t escape of this warehouse. I saw the sea when I was on the roof though, so I guess it´s close to the Victoria harbour and-

A sudden laughter cut of his sentence. Irritated Izaya listened to the voice on the other end of his phone.

**Izaya**: What the hell is so funny?

Silence. A bad feeling crept up inside him as he waited anxious for a reply.

**Michigawara**: So you are still here~ Ori-ha-ra-kun~ haha, I am glad to know one of our bullets actually got-

He cut him off. Well fuck, he called the wrong one. Not losing time he proceeded to the next number in his contacts.

**Izaya**: Ah, Sakurai, I need your help, of course you will get a reward and-

**Sakurai**: Seriously?! After Michigawara I am the next one you call?! Haha, you´re so fuck-

Cut off.

Fuck it, he knew it were more than just a little group of people that were involved with this. Next one.

**Izaya**: Usami-san, I-

**Usami**: Let me guess! You need help, Orihara-kun~? Haha, don´t worry, we will "get" you soo-

Cut off.

**Honosuke**: Well hello now it´s my turn? Haha, I wish you a nice dea-

Cut off.

**Touchiro**: Oi Izaya, don´t worry, we will torture you only a little bi-

Cut off.

**Tetsuya**: I am glad we finally managed to get you, you basta-

Cut off.

**Hanataro**: Aren´t you getting tired of it already? Noone will-

Cut off.

**Yamada**: At least let Hanataro finish his sentence you assho-

Cut off.

**Mizuo:** I think you pissed Yamada off now Izay-

Cut off.

**Tachigi**: Want me to buy you a coffin?

Cut off.

**Seiryu:** You still alive~?

Cut off.

**Aoi:** Die.

Cut off.

Cut off.

Cut off.

Cut off.

Shit! That wasn´t happening! That couldn´t… he just.. no! NO! Not being able to calm down his tremors he was shaking heavily, almost dropping his phone. That was the last number. Everyone of his clients was involved with this.

Shit, he couldn´t even call Celty or Shinra with this useless phone, he had ten fucking phones, so he never bothered to memorize a number. Only his own number it was, that he knew. Sure he always had to give it to his clients, it had craved itself into Izaya´s brain without needing to actually memorize it. Hell, now he would need his other numbers… he would fucking need them. A lump formed in his throat.

Nobody could help him.

He was alone.

He would die.

It felt as if he was choking. Water was almost trying to gather in his eyes, as he suddenly remembered something that made him flinch so hard it hurt his wound.

Still shaking he hastily grabbed his phone again and scrolled through his calling history.

He remembered! It was that day he sprained his ankle and Shizuo borrowed him his phone he recalled. Celty and Shinra didn´t pick up when he called them with it, so he called his own phone at home, hoping that Namie would pick it up if she read the name of the incoming call was Izaya himself. Certainly she did and he got home. The phone he called that time was this phone. The one he now held in his hands.

That meant…

"Got it!" he was so relieved he almost yelled from excitement if his voice weren´t that far gone. There it was, an unknown number-

Shizuo´s number.

Without hesitating another second he called.

**On the streets of Ikebukuro. Continuation. both point of view.**

Must be it, the flea would never get caught that easily.

…

He wouldn´t right…?

Uneasy he stopped in his tracks.

…

What if he did?

No way, it was Izaya he was talking about. The flea that got away from him for years. There was no way he was-

A sudden sound cut of his thoughts. His phone was ringing. He frowned as he saw that it was an unknown number that was calling him. He didn´t pick up.

_Dammit you dumb protozoan, pick up your damn phone! _Desperately clinging to the device Izaya waited for the call to come through. It had been ringing for quite a while, but no-one answered.

"Fuck!" he hissed between tight lips. His side was beginning to hurt more and more and slowly little white dots started appearing in his vision. Apart from the danger of being found the threat of bleeding to death was now much closer.

"You stupid asshole, please pick up! Please!" Izaya clutched his hair as he laid his head on his bent knees.

"Please…", his voice was only a whisper now.

Shizuo still didn´t pick up, but… whoever the hell was calling him got on his nerves, his phone didn´t stop ringing… After about two more minutes off ringing Shizuo finally snapped and picked up the phone.

"Who are you?!" he asked audibly annoyed.

Izaya couldn´t believe it. He picked up! He felt light headed from the sudden relieve, could also be the loss of blood though.

"Hello?!"

"Ah, Shizu-chan, you finally picked up." he answered quickly, fearing the blonde could hang up on him again.

Shizuo couldn´t believe his ears.

"…Izaya?"

"The one and only" Suddenly his anger simply drifted away… somewhere else, Shizuo didn´t know where. He cleared his throat.

"What do you want, flea? And… why are you whispering?"

Izaya paused. Oh shit, he hadn´t thought of that before. He couldn´t just ask his enemy to help him. Well, he did behave quite strange the last few days, but he surely wouldn´t gamble on Shizuo´s weird behaviour in a situation like this. He had to come up with something else.

"Flea?"

"Ah,sorry, I have a cold. Nevermind that, I got your brother and if you don´t get to the warehouse near the Victorian harbour within 20 minutes I will tell my subordinates to kill him."

_That´s good_. Shizuo´s brother was everything for him. Telling him the guys down below were his allies he sure would beat them to a pulp. No matter if there were bullets involved or not. Izaya smirked at the smart solution he had come to.

_Huh..?_ Confused Shizuo turned around. No matter how you saw it, his brother was still in front of Simon´s restaurant doing his commercial spot.

_What´s going on with the flea? _

"Ara, you not getting angry already Shizu-chan?~" Izaya whispered.

"Flea, I don´t know what you´re planning, but my brother is like standing 20 meters away from me. So…"

Izaya´s eyes widened. Shit! Why did that damn actor have to be in Ikebukuro today?! Quickly regaining his act Izaya went on.

"Ah, my mistake. I actually meant Tom-san. He is the one I got, so, you gonna come and get him~?"

Shizuo frowned. It was obvious Izaya made that up on the spot… But why? What was going on?

"Tom-san is in Russia, though, what are you planning…?"

Izaya felt as if his heart just jumped out of his throat. Shit! Who else to pick?!

Fuck, didn´t that brute have anyone else he cared about?!

…

No, the only ones would be Celty and Shinra and he wouldn´t believe him if he told him he got them instead.

_It´s over…_

That´s it, that was his last chance…

He would die.

He began chuckling silently. It was over. For real, his game… he had lost it…

He felt as if he was choked. He flinched as the pain in his side already became unbearable.

_Dammit…_

"Izaya?" Oh right, that bartender was still on the phone.

"Oi Izaya, what´s going on?" he sighed.

"It doesn´t matter anymore either way…" he whispered.

"What?"

"You can feel relieved, I don´t have anyone precious to you in my claws. I wanted to manipulate you."

"Huh? What are you talking about flea?"

"I will tell you, actually it will quite amuse you I assume. I managed to get caught by my enemies. Oh yeah, laugh all you can, my shit came haunting me back… I am not whispering cause I have a cold, hell I am not even able to raise my voice anymore. I am trapped inside a building, got shot and am now bleeding the fucking life outta me… "

Shizuo nearly dropped his phone as he heard that.

Izaya inhaled deeply, trying to prevent his voice from cracking as he moved on.

"I thought I was lucky though when I realized they had forgotten to take my phone. I could surely manipulate one of my clients to help me, but you know what, they are all behind this. Every single one. Well the last number I found, was yours in the calling history. I used your phone a few days before, you remember?"

Izaya laughed sad.

"I thought I could trick you in coming here, telling you they were my complices you would have given them the beating of their life… Too bad my plan failed."

"DID YOU FIND HIM?" Both, Shizuo as well as Izaya flinched as they heard the yell. Izaya´s predators were coming closer.

"No. What are we gonna do with him when we find him? Kill him off or…" Izaya didn´t need to see the guy to imagine him smiling viciously as he didn´t finish his sentence.

"How about cutting him up? Reallly sloooow…" A shiver ran down Izayas spine as he heard the threat.

Shizuo´s stomach did a backflip. He also had heard every word of them.

Izaya tried his best not to let his voice give up on him now as he spoke his last words.

"Well then, be happy, you finally… won´t ever see me again in Ikebukuro. It´s… It´s been fun chasing you…**Shizuo**."

Shizuo felt as if his world just broke down into a million pieces as he heard the flea´s last words.

"WAIT!" he yelled as loud as he could. Izaya almost jumped at the sudden outburst.

"Wha-?"

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" he still didn´t lower his voice.

"What do you-"

"WHERE?!"

"…In a warehouse near the Victorian harbour…" Izaya answered faint, still confused why the blond was so agitated.

"You there, I can borrow that right?!" Shizuo had approached a man sitting on his bike about to drive off. Afraid of the with anger boiling urban legend he nodded and scrammed.

Izaya only heard Shizuo´s voice and was quite confused.

"Shizuo, what are y-"

"Where exactly are you?"

"Huh?"

"Where? Like second floor, first floor…"

_What the hell…?! _

"What?! Do you plan on helping me Shizu-chan?" Izaya ment to kid that sentence, but his jaw dropped at Shizuo´s answer.

"I am gonna get you now!"

"Eh?"

"Don´t "eh" me, tell me where you are!"

Izaya couldn´t believe it.

_For real?!_ He got his hopes up. Did he really want to help him?!

"I am on the second floor."

"Can you move?"

"Huh? No, I told you they shot me, I already lost so much blood, I can´t even see clearly anymore…"

"…"

"Shizuo?"

_Shit, if they find him he is dead! _

_What the hell, is he really gonna help me?!_

"Are you really going to… help me?" _Help_ actually wasn´t quite the right word he had wanted to use, but he didn´t dare to break it to Shizuo that he would be _saving his life_ instead of just_ helping_ him by what he did.

"Yeah, I will, so shut up they could hear you."

Izaya couldn´t believe it. Shizuo Heiwajima, his most hated enemy was going to save his life! Just like that, without any reward, threat, whatever he would usually use to get someone to do that… He would do it on his own accord…

_Hell must be freezing up…_

Izaya thought almost laughing, but that little movement already left him squirming from the pain.

Suddenly he heard a noise. His heart almost stopped, as he realized, that it came not far from him. His eyes widened in fear as he saw the mound of chairs moving.

"Oi, Shizuo… Shizuo, hurry up, I-I think they are coming clo-" he stopped abruptly as suddenly two eyes stared at him over the beds. Shocked the phone slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor.

"Hah? Izaya, what did you say? ... Oi, Izaya?!"

"HE IS HERE! Hahaha! Found you, Orihara-kun~."

_**BANG**_

That was a shot. That was a fucking SHOT!

"OI! IZAYA?!" he was cut off.

"FUCK!" raging Shizuo threw the phone away. They found him, shit he had to hurry.

"Well, well Izaya what should we do with you now…?" the man laughed and kicked the informant in his stomach. A small whimper was being heard, but not more.

He was tired, it hurt. Everywhere. He didn´t even have the strength to scream anymore. Otherwise he would. That bastard had shot him into the shoulder as soon as he found him…

Now he was lying curled up to a ball on the floor.

"How about breaking your arm, before we kill you?" While laughing in an insane manner he suddenly stomped onto Izaya´s arm, making it emit a cracking sound.

„Aaah!" A silent scream escaped Izaya´s lips as he felt the pain piercing through him.

"Oh, that sounded nice, come on, won´t you sing more for me…?"

Again he stomped onto his already broken arm, breaking it even more.

„Aah!" Izaya felt sick as he heard the cracking sound and felt immense pain rush through his body. A silent sob escaped his lips. He couldn´t hang on any longer, he wanted it to end. However his predator didn´t seem to care, instead he went on crashing his arm making the flea squirm.

"Please, please stop it…", Izaya begged faint.

"Woah! The great informant Orihara Izaya, begging on his knees! What a sight to behold!" the man laughed amused. He pulled out his gun.

"The boss will be quite angry with me, but fuck I don´t care. You want the pain to stop right~?" He put his finger on the trigger and pointed the gun at Izaya´s head.

"Well then, sayonara you piece of-"

_**CRASH**_

A sudden noise cut through the silence.

"IZAYA!" The doors in the hall flew open revealing a raging bartender, covered in blood.

The scene was clear the moment he entered the hall. A man pointing a gun at something behind the furniture. Izaya he assumed. Raging he dashed to the two of them. The man seemed scared and pointed his gun at him. Hell he even shot, but Shizuo didn´t even feel it when the bullet pierced his arm.

"You fucking asshole!"

It was only a matter of seconds. Shizuo grabbed the bastard and punched him in the face, sending him flying over the hall. He didn´t move anymore. However Shizuo could care less, if he just had killed the bastard in his rage or not as his gaze fell onto the flea.

Covered in blood tears running down his face, as he was lying curled up on the floor. Immediatly he went over to him.

"Hey Izaya!" he didn´t dare touch the flea.

"Sh-Shiz..uo? I-it hurts…" Shizuo felt as if he himself had been shot and tortured as he saw the pained frown on Izayas face.

Slowly, trying not to move him too much he placed an arm underneath the ravens back and legs. Izaya flinched as he did that.

"Wh..at are you do…ing…?" he asked while his breath was coming in short gasps.

Shizuo paused as he heard the flea whisper weakly.

"Don´t worry, I will get you to Shinra." he whispered back soothingly and lifted the flea careful. Izaya didn´t look good at all. His face was pale, and his body was too cold to be healthy. And the blood, oh god the blood. Shizuo stomach turned as he saw and smelled the blood running down the flea´s body. Even he could tell he had lost too much of it already.

He had to get him to Shinra soon!

"Wh…y…?" Shizuo stopped at the faint whisper.

"What?"

"Why a…re y-you hel…ping me…?"

"Don´t worry about stupid things now louse, just- oi!"

Izaya was tired. Really tired. Before he could even think about it his eyes had closed and he felt himself being dragged into darkness.

"Oi Izaya! Open your eyes! OI!" he could hear Shizuos voice in the distance. He was calling his name…

He had helped him.

"Izaya!"

Why? Why did he do that…?

"Iza-"

_Why…? _

_Why are you helping me Shizuo…?_

**Did he die…? XD No, of course not, but what will happen now…? ;D I hope you liked this chapter too if so, tell me, it makes me really happy to read what you think! -^.^-**

**PS.: Um, I hope my „little" incidents each chapter aren´t too exaggerated. XD I mean by now Izaya was sick, nearly killed, shoved of a high-rise and now even kidnapped and shot…Yeaaaahhhh… and I am still not finished with him… XD I hope you don´t mind my little "let´s hurt/put Izaya in danger"- ****peculiarity****. XD**

**Chapter 6: New bodyguard due to 13.6.2014 :D **


	6. Chapter 6: New bodyguard

**Hello there~ First let me thank my dear reviewers that always manage to put an ever lasting smile on my face with their nice words:**

**MusicIsaDrug18: **-^.^- I am glad to hear you like my story so much, and that you consider it as something you can look forward to! :3 makes me really happy~! -^.^- **,**

Oh, and ~_**Happy birthday~**_! -^.^-

**IkaruSakurai: **I just have to thank you again, for being as helpful as you are! :D Thank you verrrrry much! :3 :3 I hope I can count on you this time around again. XD (I already apologize for the mistaken adverbs and adjectives if I confused them again… ^.^ )

**YaoiIsMyDrug.23: **Yay, she likes the drama! *0* Thank you for thinking of my story as awesome! :D Oh and a question on the side, do you really don´t want to continue your story „A brave new World"? I think it started off pretty interesting. :DJust sayin~-^.^-

**LovelyDomination: **I am so happy to hear you liked the last chapter that much! *0* And don´t worry, I am going to write a looooot more. ;D And I know exactly what you mean! XD It really gets on my nerves when people get, for example, shot and don´t seem to have taken any damage from it… ? XD And…Ohoh… what´s that? I am becoming predictable… gotta be more careful in the future... ;D

(Almost sounded like Izaya there… XD)

**Well, and with that being said:**

**Enjoy!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter 6: New bodyguard**

**Izaya point of view.**

"Ah! You´re awake!"

An annoyed sound escaped the informants mouth as the doctor shoved a lamp in front of his eyes. He only opened them seconds ago and now he was blinding him in the process. Izaya mumbled, still not feeling quite awake yet.

"What the hell, Shinra…argh…!" A pained expression carved itself on Izaya´s face as he tried to shove the light away.

His body was ACHING… _that_ was the first thing he noticed as he came to. And not only a little… the moment he tried to move, the wound in his shoulder literally screamed at him.

His side hurt as hell and felt like it was burning. A quick glance to mentioned injury told Izaya the reason. It wasn´t bandaged and Shinra was holding disinfecting liquid in his hands.

He must have been changing his bandages as he woke up.

And his arm… oh god his arm… when he came to he moved it intending to shove Shinra´s fucking annoying light away, which was a big mistake as he soon realized… it fucking hurt!

He didn´t even dare to try moving it again.

"Hurts?" Shinra asked pointing at his arm with a grin on his face.

"Sure as hell… And why the fuck is that something to be happy about?" Izaya hissed annoyed with tight lips. How dare that doctor put on such an expression when the only thing he felt was pain… Wasn´t it a doctors job to make a persons pain go away?!

"Ah no, don´t get me wrong Izaya, if it didn´t hurt now that would mean the shattered bones sliced off the nerves in your arm. The fact that you do feel pain only leaves me relieved, since it means that isn´t the case.", Shinra explained himself.

Izaya gulped.

_Oh…_

So that´s what this was about. He took another glance at his arm. It was wrapped up tight with white bandages and held in place by a sling bound around his neck. A buldge underneath carving itself along his arm told him that he wore a splint.

"Ah, but don´t worry, I have already patched up your arm as good as I could, not using gypsum of course, I know how much you hate that. It´s healing well for now."

Izaya sighed. So he had at least spared him the humiliation of having to run around with a plaster around his arm. And it was healing we-

_Wait…_

Surprised he raised his eyebrows. It was already healing? They were speaking about bones there. Bones don´t heal fast… But then…

"Shinra, how long have I been out?"

Izaya didn´t miss the frown that appeared on the doctor´s face for a matter of seconds.

"You were out for 10 days…"

_10 days?! _

"What the hell?! I was just shot, how could-"

"Izaya, you nearly died."

Shocked, Izaya´s eyes widened at the statement.

_Wh- What?! _

Sure he was shot, but that had been the case countless times before with no immediate threat at all, not to mention this time they didn´t even hit internal organs, so why...?!

Shinra seemed to notice the confused expression showing on Izaya´s face and began his explanation.

"Apart from your arm, which is completely fractured by the way, you had other injuries, Izaya. Putting a few broken ribs and hematoma aside, you were shot. Twice. The first one you took to the side wasn´t that bad actually. Sure you lost quite an amount of blood, but that´s it. Nothing immediately life threatening, you could have walked around with that for another 1-2 hours before it would have become a serious problem. But that second shot…"

Shinra pointed at his shoulder which was also tightly wrapped up in bandages.

"…was nothing like the others. Let me enlighten you, the shoulder contains the subclavian artery, which feeds the brachial artery. The main artery to the arm, as well as the brachial plexus, a large nerve bundle that controls arm function. You suffered from serious blood vessel damage… Aside from the possibility that you could never feel your arm again, which you were lucky to avoid as we know now, you lost blood. A lot of blood… and way to fast. At the time Shizuo brought you here you were already on the brink of death. A few minutes late and you would have been. Literally bleeded to death if I had to say."

Surprised Izaya eyed Shinra.

"Shizu-chan?" he whispered confused. Suddenly he remembered.

Shizuo had saved his life…! Just like that, without any threat or reward… just out of his own free will. Izaya frowned, what the hell was going on…?!

A big smile appeared on Shinra´s face as he went on talking.

"That´s right. Shizuo brought you here and since then didn´t leave for even a second~"

"Ha? What? You mean he is here?" Izaya asked staggered.

"Oh yes, just went out for a smoke before you woke up."

_What the hell?! Why was he-?! _First he saved his live for whatever fucking motive he had, and now he was staying here waiting for him to wake up…?! Why?!

"Speaking of which, I think you seriously need a bodyguard." Shinra said suddenly. Izaya sighed at the doctor´s suggestion. He already guessed he would mention something like this.

"I don´t thinks so Shinra, that incident was just a once in a lifetime slip up, something like this would´n-"

"Izaya, they came after you."

Perplexed Izaya looked at Shinra.

"…they did what?", he finally managed to stutter out.

"As I already told you Shizuo stayed here every single second since he brought you to me, and I am very grateful for that… Twelve times…"

He sighed as his voice took on an even more serious tone as he went on.

"That´s the amount of people that came here to kill you while you slept."

Izaya´s eyes widened.

_What the-?!_

"Izaya I don´t know what happened, Shizuo wouldn´t tell me a thing, but you should seriously consider getting a bodyguard, especially considering your current condition."

He cleared his throat.

"That is, if you don´t plan on dying soon."

Izaya still couldn´t connect the dots. It was just unbelievable.

"Wait, so you´re trying to tell me Shizuo…" Shinra nodded at the confused expression the informant was showing.

"Yeah, protected you, Izaya, while you were asleep. He was even sleeping in front of your door to make sure nobody would slip in here. And everytime one showed up he showed them „nicely" the way out. With my furniture though…"

Izaya couldn´t believe it. The fact that there were still people after his life didn´t surprise him as much as the fact that Shizuo watched over him.

He just couldn´t figure out his intentions… Why was he doing all this?! Why save his enemy's life?! For free?! Until now Izaya thought Shizuo was pretty simple minded, but this recent change really left him thinking if he had some sort of ulterior motive. Of course, Shizuo wasn´t one to have ulterior motives to begin with, but otherwise all of his actions wouldn´t make any sense. There just had to be a reason for his weird behaviour.

The sudden creaking of his rooms door cut of his thoughts.

There he was. The man that gave him a headache thinking about stepping into the room.

-Shizuo.

"Ah, Shizuo, good timing, Izaya woke up." Shinra announced happily.

Curious Izaya eyed the blond. If this had been a normal coincidental meeting at Shinra´s place, Shizuo would have screamed his name by now and tried to kill him again. Celty would have tried to stop him with her shadows and Shinra would have yelled after Izaya that he had to stay while he was making a run for it.

That´s the way things should usually be. He frowned. This time it was different.

No matter how closely he watched the debt collector, he couldn´t detect any kind of hatred directed at him. Quite the opposite. Shizuo actually seemed to be somewhat … relieved…? But that couldn´t be, Shinra must have given him quite the medication-cocktail to actually make him believe the brute was concerned about him.

"Well then excuse me, I need to get something." The doctor conveniently announced and disappeared through the door. The grin on his face told him that he was doing this on porpuse… Not that he minded, he sure had a few questions he eagerly wanted a satisfying answer to.

But the ex-bartender didn´t speak a word, nor did he seem to intend to. The raven sighed. He would have to be the one to start the conversation it seemed.

"What? Enjoying the sight?" he mumbled annoyed as the only thing Shizuo did was stare at him intensively. He must have heard him, because suddenly the blond approached his bed, making Izaya flinch in the process.

He was expecting him to do something violent and already tried to think of a way to escape. Anxious he observed the approaching blond, when suddenly…

"How do you feel?" … he asked that.

Confused Izaya looked at Shizuo, meeting golden, concerned looking eyes in the process. He dropped his guard immediately, as he realized he really wouldn´t try anything.

How do you feel? HOW DO YOU FEEL?! What the hell?!

If it was Celty asking him that, he would understand.

If it was Shinra asking him, he would understand.

Even if his sisters asked that, he would understand.

But this was fucking „I want to kill you till you´re dead, flea"-Heiwajima Shizuo! Seriously concerned about his health?! He was supposed to laugh at this or at least be amused by his current condition! But being worried?!

He really had to hold himself back as to not let his mouth gap open in surprise, leaving him to look like an idiot. Slowly trying to recollect his thoughts he decided to just ignore the question. He didn´t feel the need to tell his enemy, even if he didn´t seem to be one, that he was feeling like shit. He decided to counter his question with another one instead.

"Shizu-chan, why did you help me?" After all that was a question he seriously wanted to be answered. The earlier he asked the better it was. But said blond didn´t even flinch at the question, he just looked at him for a while before simply answering.

"No reason."

Izaya´s jaw nearly dropped at that crappy excuse. That wasn´t even close to a satisfying answer. Angry he began to yell.

"Ha…? The hell?! Tell me the truth! Spit it out, what do you wan-...argh!" Izaya suddenly stopped, flinching.

Shit. He had raised his voice to much and his body gladly seemed to remind him just how broken he was. Hissing he tried to sit up when suddenly something happened, that yet again left him with a staggered expression.

Obviously with only one hand and injuries like these this task was actually quite difficult for him to achieve. Well, that´s the case normally if you don´t have a certain individual standing beside you, that suddenly decides to interfere. As if it was the most common thing in the world he swiftly wrapped his arms around the flea´s unharmed shoulder and back to gently help him up.

"Oi, don´t overdo it flea, you just woke up." Izaya glanced angry as well as confused at Shizuo still leaning over, watching him closely with his golden eyes.

_What. the. hell?! _

"Why did you do that?" Izaya asked perplexed, this time with a more quiet voice.

"What?"

"Just now, why are you so…" he didn´t know how to put it into words so he just named the first thing that came to mind.

"…different?" Not quite the perfect description, but the blond got the gist. Shizuo sighed and brushed through his hair.

"Aren´t you so smart? Go and figure it out yourself." Was the only answer Izaya got, because with these words Shizuo turned around and made his way out of the room, leaving a dumbfounded Izaya behind.

_What the-_

"Wait, that doesn´t aswer my ques-oi!" But he just ignored him and closed the door. Raging Izaya stared at the closed entrance.

Did that bastard really walk off on him just now?!

**Shizuo point of view **

"Ah, Shizuo, killed him yet?" Shinra was sitting on the couch obviously just making a move on Celty. Embarrassed she shoved him off and began typing on her PDA.

(That´s not funny Shinra!) She punched him lightly on his arm.

"Haha, it was just a joke darling, of course he wouldn´t even think of killing him now, aren´t I right? Ne, Shizuo~?"

An uneasy feeling crept up inside Shizuo as he saw the strange look on Shinra´s face.

…

_He knows something… _

"So, how is your "enemy"~?" Shinra asked with a bright smile on his face as the word enemy brushed over his lips.

_Yup. Definitely… _

"He seems fine to me, not that I care." Shizuo tried to cover up.

"Sure~" Shinra just replied with a smirk.

Shizuo eyed Celty, who was obviously not getting what Shinra was pointing at… Sighing he took yet another of his smokes and excused himself or a while.

Well, so much for keeping his love a secret…

**-outside-**

Calm he observed the slowly fading smoke, blown away by the nightly breeze…

…

So he was okay. Relieved he closed his eyes and tilted his face upwards to face the night sky.

He was really okay… sure, beaten up quite bad and probably out of business for a while, but alive. Fucking alive! Shizuo had thought his heart would stop when the flea had suddenly decided to fucking stop breathing in his arms...!

Furious he stormed to Shinra´s apartment, not bothering to knock first he just had slammed down the door, crashing the door frame in the process.

Just in time as he learned later.

According to Shinra Izaya was actually really dying at that moment and even one minute later could have been the end for the flea.

Shaking he dropped the cigarette on the ground. God, he had never been that terrified in his whole fucking life!

_Stupid flea, don´t scare me like that…_

Shinra definitely suspected ... no, probably knew about Shizuo´s feelings… Well he couldn´t blame him, as obviously as he was acting it actually surprised him that Celty didn´t connect the dots till now… he was fucking sitting in front of the fleas door to make sure nobody got to him while he was asleep… if that wasn´t suspicious enough, then he didn´t know what would be…

He gritted his teeth as he remembered the first night in Shinra´s apartment. Two of these fucked up guys actually went after them! He gave them the beating of their life of course, but seriously they were still coming…

That night he made a decision. It didn´t matter if the flea ever loves him back or not, he didn´t even care if he hated him. But he would protect him! Protect him with his life if necessary! He never again wanted to experience the sense of loss he had when Izaya was on the brink of death.

Presently the flea was in no condition to defend himself, and now that he was awake it would prove to be quite difficult to protect Izaya without him noticing and fussing about his reasons…

Damn fucking flea and his reasons. He was glad he came up with the "Izaya should figure it out himself if he is smart"-excuse. As much pride as the flea had he probably wouldn´t ask again too soon.

He brushed through his hair…

Now then, what to do?

**Izaya point of view**

"You finished your talk I heard?" Shinra grinned as he entered the raven´s room again. Izaya sat on his bed still angry at the blond.

"You couldn´t call that talk, he just went off in the middle that brute." He stated annoyed, tossing the sheets aside. Not getting answers he seeked was really ticking his boxes.

"Ara, you shouldn´t talk bad about your _saviour_ Izaya~." He shot a glare at him for that comment.

"Shut you trap Shinra."

The damn doctor sure knew how to annoy him. Still, even if Shizuo saved his life, he didn´t own him a thing. After all he didn´t ask him for help. Sure he called his phone with the intention of luring him to his location. But his plan failed and it was solely Shizuo´s decision to come and get him despite that fact.

No matter what his reasons were, he sure as hell shouldn´t expect Izaya to believe he was now in debt to him.

"But you know… if I were you I would try not to piss Shizuo of now…" Shinra suddenly said, cutting of his thoughts. Surprised he eyed the doctor and frowned.

"What? You think I am scared of him? I have never been and that won´t change now Shinra."

Seriously, how long did they knew each other? Shinra should know better than to assume Izaya would be scared of Shizuo just because he couldn´t run away from him like he did usually.

"Actually that´s not what I was talking about." Shinra suddenly objected.

Now the doctor got him curious.

"Huh? Then what do you mean?" Izaya got even more curious, as Shinra suddenly put on his serious-doctor-face and approached him slowly, seemingly trying to find the right words for whatever he had to say.

"Izaya, I mentioned it before, ne? These guys are continuing to come after you and you are in no condition to defend yourself- and don´t even even try to argue with me. Remember, I was the one to patch you up."

Izaya would like to argue about that, but even though he hated to admit it, he was right. If some of these guys were to come after him alone… Well the outcome would be pretty clear he guessed. But what was he pointing at?

"…So?"

He sat down on the chair beside his bed, leaning forward, like a parent would when trying to persuade their child to do something . Didn´t sit well with him at all. He cleared his throat.

"Well, as you know Shizuo has been fending them off quite effectively if I say so, moreover he has a good reputation if you could consider it that way, he is strong, reliable… In short, nobody would try to approach you, if-"

"Wait." Izaya cut him off as realization dawned on him just what Shinra tried to suggest.

"Are you fucking telling me, I should hire Shizuo as my bodyguard?!" Izaya raged, barely under the voice volume that made him squirm.

"You do remember that we hate each other?! Right?! That we constantly try to KILL each other, and you tell me I should hire him as my bodyguard?! Why don´t you get me coffin right away, would have the same outcome!"

He couldn´t fucking believe it, what did that doctor smoke that he got such a ridiculous idea?! Still not seeming to understand Izaya´s point he just frantically went on rambling.

"Ma, please listen, Izaya. I know you hate each others guts, but he saved you remember? No matter what reason he had he saved you of his own free will, and he stayed here protecting you out of his own free will, even if we don´t know his motives, if they contain your safety, does it matter? The point is, in the whole world you couldn´t get any better bodyguard than him, and you know that. Please Izaya, even if you´re an asshole, you´re also my friend, consider it."

Izaya furrowed. He hated Shizuo. No, he loathed him… and yet, he did have a point there. It was a simple fact that nobody could beat Shizuo in terms of strength. Hell even a bullet wouldn´t hurt him too much he guessed. And there was also that other aspect Shinra didn´t know about… since all of his clients betrayed him, Shizuo was probably the only one he could trust now. Actually if he thought about it he kind of understood what Shinra was getting at.

But… He frowned yet again.

What if he noticed something…? Sure he was stupid, but not _that_ stupid. One mistake and his worst enemy would know exactly how to make him squirm...

On the other hand, while Shinra would pester him the whole day with it he could just ask Shizuo. He was talking about Shizuo Heiwajima, who hated him just as much as he did. Moreover he was a man reacting on instincts. The possibility of him agreeing to be the bodyguard of his most loathed enemy was incredibly slim.

He shrugged his shoulders in feigned defeat.

"Fine I will ask him."

Immediately Shinras face lit up like a christmas tree. Izaya chuckled at the childish reaction he got.

"That´s good~! Should I get him for you?" he asked eagerly.

Izaya waved his good hand carefree.

"Do what you want."

Instantly he shot up and ran out of his room while yelling.

"Shizuooooo~"

Izaya sighed. What was Shinra thinking? That he would agree? No fucking way. Even if Shizuo was unpredictable. That was something he once in a while was 100% sure of would never happen. He jerked his head up when suddenly the door creaked and Shizuo stepped inside.

"What do you want flea?" he asked. Izaya sighed. Oh well, how should he start.

"Just so you know, that wasn´t my idea, that´s all Shinra´s plan."

Good, first blame Shinra, then tell him the plan.

"What is?" he asked annoyed while looking out of the door. He bet Shinra was still standing there curiously observing the situation. Okay, he didn´t want to beat around the bush so he put it as simple as he could.

"Shinra thinks it would be for the best if I hired you as my bodyguard."

Silence.

Silence and a confused look on Shizuo´s face, that was the reaction he got. Quite an amusing one if he had to say. Just the expression on Shizuos face when he looked to Shinra seemingly asking „did he really say what I think he did?" was priceless.

"…ha?", was the only intelectual response he managed to give. Well, couldn´t blame him he wouldn´t have reacted otherwise if it was the other way round… maybe he would have even began to laugh. He chuckled, so once in a while even Shizuo was predictable. He smiled as he continued.

"Ridiculous right? Of course I would pay you a fair amount of money but you would have to live in my apartment, not kill me, watch over me 24/7, protect me and so on… You get it, so just to prevent Shinra from nagging, please tell him, just what exactly your answer is, Shizu~chan."

Izaya giggled, putting on a face that said "told ya", as Shinra peeked into the room.

"Okay."

"See Shinra I thought so, that´s wh-"

He froze. Confused Izaya shrugged and looked at his enemy.

…

…

_WHAT?!_

"Okay?!" Did he really just say OKAY?! No, no, no, he must have misheard, there was no way that-

"Yeah, okay, as in I take the job. But you can keep your dirty money, who knows how you earned that."

Baffled Izaya stared at the person standing in front of him. Yeah, no doubt this was Shizuo Heiwajima. And for fucking hells sake he just now agreed to be his bodyguard…!

"You… you would seriously-?! Without even being pai-?! Why?!"

Only broken sentences escaped his lips as he tried to comprehend what just happened. He didn´t get it, there had to be a limit to just how unpredictable that brute was!

"I think, I already told you to figure it out yourself."

_That smartass comment again, that damn_- he was about to spat something back at the blonde, when suddenly Shinra interrupted and placed himself just between the two of them.

"Okay, let me cut off this conversation~ Since it´s clear Shizuo is going to do the job I would kindly ask you to leave now Izaya~"

Surprised Izaya cocked his eyebrow.

"Whoa, why the hurry Shinra?" he asked.

"Well as I already told you there are certain individuals after your life and if Shizuo beats another couple of them up I am not confident my furniture will survive it~ Ah and Shizuo."

Izaya noted Shinra changing back to serious doctor mode as he talked to the blond.

"Izaya is seriously injured, in fact he shouldn´t even be walking around, but I don´t think he would listen to that either way. Well, I will turn a blind eye on that, but he is absolutely not allowed to do anything else than to rest. No lifting heavy object as well, though I would say that would hurt pretty damn much… If he still tries to pull something… knock him out~"

Shinra grinned at the last statement and patted Shizuo on the shoulder.

"Shinra!" Izaya growled.

"Got it." Shizuo answered.

Horrified Izaya looked at the debt collector. Oh god, what did he do to deserve this?!

He sighed and slowly tried to heave himself of the bed. Which proved to actually be simpler than sitting up before. Kinda logical since he didn´t have to use as many of his abdominals to complete that task. Well, it still hurt, but was bearable.

Only as he stood he realized, that everyone´s eyes had been resting on him in the process.

"What?" he asked annoyed. He didn´t like being stared at as if he was some rare animal.

Shinra shrugged and kindly stepped out of the way as Izaya brushed past him. With a glare he asked the doctor about his beloved coat. Immediately he went and got it. And to Izaya´s utmost surprise, it wasn´t damaged.

"Ah, it was stained with blood, so Celty cleaned it, I guess you don´t mind~?" Shinra smiled as he handed it over. Izaya nodded and mumbled a small thanks. With Celty´s help he put one arm into his coat and wrapped the other half securely around his body.

He quickly thanked Shinra despite being quite pissed off at him, before stepping out of the secure apartment. After all he did save his life.

**-10 minutes later. Shinjuku.-**

It was cold. The two of them had taken a taxi from Ikebukuro to Shinjuku. They didn´t speak one word during the ride. However that damn taxi-driver didn´t drive them directly to Izaya´s apartment. Bastard claimed he had to do something important... Sure…

Freezing he wrapped up his coat a bit more and flinched when he accidentally brushed against his waist. Ever since they left the apartment his side has been throbbing painfully. Just standing had been okay, but walking seemed to be a whole different thing.

That was the main reason why he had decided to drive here instead of walk. Ever since he got out of the car his wounds had started to hurt worse and worse…

"You´re slow..." Shizuo suddenly mumbled.

He glared at the debt collector, walking right beside him. Hell yeah he was fucking injured! Did he expect him to bounce around the way he usually did or-

"… does it hurt?" Izaya paused.

_Oh_… so that´s what he was getting at. Izaya forgot this was the new frigging weird version of Shizuo Heiwajima, treating him as if he weren´t his most loathed enemy.

He shook his head.

"No it doesn´t." No way in hell would he tell the brute he was in pain. He couldn´t trust him. Even if this was the new weird version of Shizuo he could just be acting and waiting for an opportunity to-

…

No, if that´s what he wanted, then he could have just left him in the warehouse when he called him that time… He wasn´t out to kill him it seemed…

Still it took a lot more to earn trust from Orihara Izaya.

"If you say that…" Shizuo sighed and grabbed one of his cigarets. Izaya inhaled deeply, as he moved on. He just needed to concentrate on something else.

Right, how about Shizuo? He still hadn´t come to a conclusion why he was acting so weird lately.

Maybe something had happened? But what could that be, that it changed this raging blonde into this? Nobody died, that he was sure of.

He shivered as a cold blow brushed past them. Reminding Izaya of the coldness and the more and more hurting wounds he had. He quivered after almost every step now.

_Fuck… only a few blocks more…_

"Oi flea, you seriously okay?"

He looked up into these golden eyes watching him with concern. He looked away. Oh fuck no he was not, but he would never admit that.

"It´s …nothing." He spat between tight lips as he went on moving. However as stubborn as Izaya was, his body didn´t play along.

Since the only thing he had done these last ten days was to ly in bed his body was lacking energy. It didn´t have the power to just walk around again like nothing happened at all and so the inevitable happened.

Just as he took another painful step Izaya´s legs suddenly gave away beneath him, leaving him to fall down in the direction of the hard concrete. He already closed his eyes tightly as he suddenly felt strong arms, wrapping themselves securely around the ravens waist, preventing him from falling flat face onto the ground.

"Izaya!"

Surprised, but in too much pain Izaya stayed in that position. He didn´t know what to do. His legs were gone for good, and the only thing preventing him from falling down on the ground were Shizuo´s arms. Shizuo seemed to notice that he couldn´t move anymore as he sweared.

"Shit!" Izaya would have expected the blonde to drop him here and there and just walk away, discarding his job as his "bodyguard", but what he did next showed Izaya again just how unpredictable he really was.

While he was still in pain he suddenly felt himself being flipped around and pulled into Shizuo´s chest. A hand slid down to his legs and before he knew it his enemy was carrying him bridal-style.

"What are you doing?" Izaya managed to ask between short gasps. He didn´t know whether he should feel embarrassed, angry or just relieved that he didn´t have to walk anymore.

"Carrying you stupid flea. You should have told me earlier if it was that bad." Shizuo grunted annoyed.

Izaya sighed. He would have loved to ask him why, but he was too tired and hurt to actually argue with Shizuo right now and decided to just keep his mouth shut for the time being.

Being carried actually wasn´t that bad of a feeling he had to admit. Embarrassing, but comfortable. He closed his eyes. Shizuo was warm. Much warmer than his coat…

**-a few minutes later-**

The sound of keys clinking caught his ears. Slowly he opened his eyes again. It was even warmer than before. Only at second glance he noticed that they were already in front of his apartment.

He realized Shizuo was still carrying him. So he had fallen asleep he guessed. Embarrassed he noticed the exact position he was in. While sleeping he had snuggled much closer into Shizuo´s chest and was now gripping his white shirt tightly.

A flush spread accross his face as he jerked away, emitting a grunt from the blonde.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Izaya looked surprised at the bartender. _That_ was certainly the last thing he was concerned about now… Only then he realized what it was that had woken him up. Shizuo had been trying to get his keys out of his coat without waking him up.

Well, he didn´t succeed. He sighed and fished them quickly out of his pocket handing them over to the blond.

Without further delay they entered Izaya´s apartment. Questioning Shizuo eyed the flea.

"The bedroom is…?"

"Over there.", he answered and pointed at the door on the other end of the room. Still feeling rather embarrassed by it, Shizuo carried him into his room and dropped him gently on his bed.

He certainly never would have guessed that the blond could be that gentle and cautious. Yawning Izaya tossed his coat aside he really just wanted to sleep now. Suddenly he paused and looked at Shizuo who observed him intensively.

"…What?"

"Say, do you need help changing?", he pointed at his shoulder and arm. Izaya shrugged. Taking of his coat had been no problem, but taking of his shirt would prove to be one. He wore just a blouse probably from Shinra, which was normally easy to remove, but with his shoulder and all… Sure, he definitely could need help, but he would never admit that.

"No." He answered. Shizuo sighed, and to Izayas surprise suddenly bent forward.

"Alright, I already know that one…"

Surprised Izaya jerked away when Shizuo grabbed his shirt.

"Don´t worry, I won´t hurt you." He promised. He misinterpreted his actions. God he could care less now if it hurt, this was fucking embarrassing!

Shizuo quickly unbuttoned his shirt and afterwards slowly removed the sling with one hand while holding Izaya´s arm in place with the other. While sliding of one half of his shirt Shizuo suddenly stopped and looked at Izaya.

"You are way too skinny you know that?" he asked the informant.

"Just shut up…" Izaya whispered abashed. Seriously, how long did he intend changing him…?

Glady he didn´t hesitate any longer and in a few minutes he finished changing his shirt. As soon as that happened Izaya shoved him away, claiming he could change his trousers himself.

To his relief Shizuo did as he said and went out of the bedroom. Changing his trousers really wasn´t much of a problem. When he finished he suddenly heard a screeching noise coming from the living room. Uneasy he eyed the closed door.

_What was that?_

"Shizu-chan?" he called.

Suddenly the door opened revealing the source of the racket. Dumbfounded Izaya looked at the couch, which he was sure of was usually standing in the middle of his living room and not directly in front of the stairs to his bedroom door.

"What are you doing?" Izaya asked Shizuo annoyed.

"Well, that way nobody can get in here without meeting me, right?" Shizuo simply answered. Leaving a surprised expression on Izaya´s face.

_Whoa, he is really taking this seriously. _

…_okay? I guess? _

"… just try not to make to much noise, I wanna sleep." He mumbled and let himself drop back onto bed.

"Ah sure, good night flea." With these words Shizuo closed the door, leaving Izaya alone.

What the fucking hell?! trying to collect his thoughts he summed up what had happened that day.

He woke up.

He got told he nearly died.

His clients were still after his life.

Shizuo was now his bodyguard.

Shizuo fucking carried him home.

Shizuo helped him change.

Shizuo was sleeping in front of his room.

Shizuo didn´t behave the way he usually did! That really ticked him off. And for fucking gods sake, he still didn´t have a clue, what his reasons for acting that way could be?!

**Shizuo point of view. **

Sighing he dropped himself on the couch in front of Izaya´s bedroom.

That Shinra… He didn´t miss the smile he was giving him when Izaya asked him to be his bodyguard. He smiled.

Well played. Now he could protect the flea without needing any kind of excuse. Maybe it wasn´t that bad that he had discovered his feelings.

He glanced at Izaya´s door.

…

It weren´t only his clients, that were after Izayas life… did he know that? Uneasy he remembered when he met Arizawa… that guy wanted to kill him too, and damn he even got this apartment right above to observe the flea.

He sighed. Thank god he remembered to ask the flea where his bedroom was despite already knowing it. If he just carried him there the flea sure would have become suspicious immediately.

But the thought of Arizawa hiring yet another "observer" was even more scary than the idea of the flea finding him out.

That was the main reason Shizuo moved the couch in front of Izaya´s door. If that bastard or his lackeys were still up there he could conveniently come down in the middle of the night and finish his job.

_Only over my dead body. _

He would never let that happen.

Never.

**Well, well together for 24/7 from now on…? This could be fun… ;D **

**I hope you liked this chapter as well even though it wasn´t as intense as the last one. -^.^- Next will also be more on the cute and fluffy side. I hope you don´t mind. ^.^ **

**Oh and for those that would like to see the new story-picture I am using in better quality, I posted a link on my profile page. -^.^-**

**What do you think of it? :D Took me ~15 hours to draw…I hope they were worth it. XD **

**Chapter 7: The statement! **

* * *

_**Due to ****26.6.2014 (I am really sorry for changing the date**__**! **_^^'_**)**_


	7. Chapter 7: The statement

**Hello there! -^.^- Thank you so much for your nice reviews! *-* And… Umm, well… *BOWS DEEPLY* I am really, really, really sorry for updating so late! ^^' But this time the chapter will at least contain a lot less mistakes than before, thanks to my dear friend IkaruSakurai! -^.^- Thank you so much for proofreading! *-* **

**I swear I won´t take this long again! :3 So, please don´t be angry with me… ^^' *hides behind Shizuo* **

**Shizuo: Sorry, can´t protect you.**

**Me: What?! O.O Why? I let you be with Izaya!**

**Shizuo: Exactly, and that´s why I have to go now. **

**Me: Noooo, wait! *Pauses and turns back to glare at me***

**Shizuo: I almost forgot… *Approaches me and lifts me by my shirt***

**Me: W-what?**

**Shizuo: I hope for you that in this chapter you didn´t put Izaya in danger again!**

**Me: Um… well... that´s-**

**Shizuo: WHAT?!**

**Me: Aaaah! Sorry, sorry! **

**Well, and with that being said: Enjoy! ~ -^.^-**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter 7: The statement**

**Both point of view. Izaya's apartment.**

It was bright, that was the first thing Shizuo noticed as he woke up this morning.

Yawning, he sat up straight from a not too comfortable position. The couch he had been lying on wasn´t quite relaxing... Sleepy, he looked around and realized he wasn´t in his own apartment. For a moment he was irritated.

_Where...? _

But only for a moment, as he suddenly realized, what was going on.

Right… He was in the flea's apartment. He smiled. Not the one above, but the real one.  
Izaya was hurt and being targeted by several evil individuals and he, Shizuo Heiwajima, was now his bodyguard.

He took a look at his phone. Today Tom would be coming back. He sighed, he would have to tell him that he couldn´t work for him right now.

He looked at the clock hanging in Izaya's living room.

8 am.  
He got up. Well now that he was awake he could make some breakfast as a start.

He drowsily made his way to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

Compared to his own, which was usually empty or filled with milk, pudding and sweet stuff, the raven actually had a lot to choose from here… Eggs, all kinds of vegetables, fruits, yoghurts, ootoro of course… he cringed his nose. The flea´s fridge really contained a lot of stuff, but not quite what he preferred.

He decided to settle for eggs, since that would probably be the only thing he _and_ the flea would like…

Just as he's prepared to start cooking, a loud bump coming from the flea´s bedroom startled him. Surprised he turned around, the door to Izaya's bedroom was still closed.

"Izaya?" he said aloud.

…

No answer.

Worried, he went out of the kitchen, moved the couch placed in front of the stairs that led to the flea's bedroom, went up and opened the door.

Relieved, he saw what had caused the racket. Izaya was just lying on the floor again, as he had several days before. Shizuo guessed he probably fell out of bed again because of this fucking restless manner of sleep he had.

„Flea?" An annoyed grunt was the answer he got from the raven, still lying flat face on the ground.

„Good morning to you too Shizu-chan~." He gritted between his teeth.

Only then Shizuo realized, that a fall out of bed must have hurt quite a bit considering the flea's injuries.

„Shit… you okay?" he asked the raven, now concerned.

The informant rolled his eyes at the stupid question. Falling out of bed and landing directly on his hurt right shoulder and waist… honestly, how stupid was that damn protozoan?

„Never felt better." he spat sarcastically and tried to get up again. Which was just as bad an idea, as it had been the day before… the pain still didn´t seem to fade. Sighing he realized, that he hadn´t gotten better one bit since yesterday.

These painkillers Shinra gave him worked nothing.

Shizuo, however, seemed to notice that too. He approached the flea and, before Izaya could even protest, picked him up from the floor and with a swift movement sat him back on the edge of his bed.

Izaya was so startled by the sudden motion that he didn´t even have time to react. Annoyed, he looked at the debt collector. He didn´t need his fucking help. Especially when he didn´t know the reason for it. He glared at the ex-bartender. Shizuo seemed to notice his dissatisfied look.

"What?"

Izaya sighed.

"Nothing." Even if he had asked him he wouldn´t get an answer either way. Suddenly Shizuo looked into his eyes again. With _that _kind of look, which was holding no hate, but something else Izaya was too groggy to figure out.

"So, how do you feel?" was the question that left his lips next. Izaya sighed.

_Like shit…_ he thought to himself.

"Fine." he answered Shizuo. Said man just frowned at the reply.

"Oh yeah, I saw that yesterday."

Blushing, Izaya remembered what happened the day before. Oh god... he was fucking being carried home! Sure, he was in pain, but to allow something like this… had he really sunk so low?!

"Shut up, I don´t know why you bother anyway!" Izaya snapped back annoyed.

Shizuo crocked his eyebrow in amusement.

"Oh? So you want to tell me the best information broker of Ikebukuro lacks information?"

He earned a glare for that. But instead of a snappy answer Izaya's mouth just dropped open and closed again.

_Huh?_ that was a rare sight, the flea at a loss for words. Shizuo laughed. That was certainly an expression he wouldn´t forget for life.

"Stop laughing, you damn protozoan!" Izaya hissed and already prepared another insult, when suddenly the growling of his stomach roared through the room.

Shizuo chuckled, Izaya blushed.

„You hungry flea?" Shizuo asked him, smiling.

_How fucking amused he is by this whole situation_… Izaya thought, but yeah, he really was hungry. Now that he thought about it, he had been sleeping for a fucking long time and couldn´t even remember the last time he had a decent meal…

Izaya already wanted to reply when his stomach took the opportunity instead and growled again. So much for the tiny bit of his remaining pride… he already saw it packing its belongings and flying happily out of the window.

"Get up flea, I am making us breakfast." Shizuo announced and headed back for the kitchen.

Surprised, Izaya looked at Shizuo.

"What?" Did he hear right? Shizuo turned around again.

"Breakfast. You know that thing you eat in the morning after you wake up." he joked, already expecting a snappy reply from the flea, but to his surprise he just got a pretty staggered-looking expression followed by a thoughtful frown.

"Sure."

Puzzled, Shizuo rose his eyebrow. What´s wrong with him now...? Still puzzled by the reaction he got from the flea, he watched him as he stood up, visibly flinching in the process and swaying unsteadily in the direction of the kitchen.

Shizuo observed him… if it was going his way, then he would be carrying the flea by now instead of letting him walk around in pain.

But he would surely just begin to protest. The day before he was pretty much knocked out, but today he wouldn´t just give in like that… he thought. However, only a few seconds later he begged it to be different.  
And the cause of it were the stairs.

Just as Izaya stepped on the first one he flinched in pain.

_Shit..._ it hurt. Stepping down and stretching his wound... fuck, why the hell has he even decided to build fucking stairs in his apartment?!

A glance down the stairs told him that Shizuo was staring at him.

And there it was again. _That_ look. That "I wanna help you" face Shizuo was making didn´t sit right with the flea at all. He was supposed to hate him! Not help! He didn´t need help! Especially from a brute like Shizuo! And that fucking concerned look…

Never in his whole live had anyone been concerned about him!

_Never!_

And he never trusted anyone!

_Never ever! _

So who the fuck did Shizuo think he was, continuously pestering him and making him believe that he actually …cared?!

Angry, he motioned to take yet another step, somehow he had to get down there after all. And he would certainly not accept any help from Shizuo.

"Hurts?" Seriously pissed Izaya looked at Shizuo. And there he was going at it again, offering help he didn´t need.

"No" Shizuo frowned angrily at that comment.

"I know it does."

"And I said it doesn´t" Izaya rolled his eyes. Didn´t that brute get that he didn´t need his support?

"Izaya, do I really have to get a mirror for you to see just how pained you look right now? Just let me help you." Shizuo sighed, slightly annoyed.

"I don´t need your help." He spat back.

"But you-" Shizuo began but Izaya just had to cut him off.

"No, I said I don´t-"

„IZAYA!" that fucking did it. Izaya flinched surprised at the sudden outburst of the blond.

„Stop acting like a fucking stubborn kid!" Shizuo went on yelling and approached Izaya. Said man backed away slightly.

„Huh?! Who is acting like-"

„YOU! YOU, YOU, YOU!" Shizuo yelled at the top of his lungs. "Damn it Izaya, you nearly died, only woke up yesterday, look pained almost all of the time and tell me nothing is wrong?! Just how long do you intend to be this damn stubborn?!"

"I am not-"

"Fuck, yes you are, Izaya! Stop that! I know you have that fucking pride of yours, but there is a limit! It´s just me, a stupid protozoan as you call me, you don´t have to act that way around me. If you tell me one more time that everything is okay, I am fucking killing you!"

He threw a punch to the wall of Izaya's apartment leaving a hole in the process.

"…doesn´t make much sense, don´t you think? You killing me I mean…" Izaya countered his statement, unsure of how to handle the debt collector now.

"Cut the crap, you know what I mean Izaya."

…

He shut it and gulped. To be perfectly honest, Izaya had never seen Shizuo that angry in his life, and that meant a lot after these many years of fighting each other… He just didn´t get why…

" … how the fuck am I supposed to protect and help you when you torture yourself by doing things that obviously strain you?! Listen, I want you to tell me, if you are in pain or need anything, did that get through your thick skull?"

Izaya sighed. Well, what to answer? A no would definitely result in something that Izaya was not in the mood for now… he had been standing on these damned stairs the whole time and was hurting all over…

He took another glance at the still raging Shizuo.

…

Fuck it, he was too tired of pretending he wasn´t hurt and dragging himself along… And even though he hated to admit it, Shizuo somehow got a point... it was just the stupid protozoan who would see him… giving in that is…

He nodded and earned a more relaxed expression on the debt collector's face as a reward.

"Good."

Now he was tired… and hungry. But the stairs were still there… He sighed.

_Fuck it…_

"Shizu-chan...?"

"Yeah?" Izaya looked away, embarrassed.

„Hurts…"

That was enough for Shizuo. Immediately he went up to the flea and picked him up, carrying him down the torturous stairs. He sighed.

"And that was so difficult?" he asked while seating the informant on the chair in front of the kitchen counter.

"…sure was…" Izaya began, still quite abashed by the fact that Shizuo has just _carried_ him yet again…

"I absolutely never ever accept help from anybody… I haven´t done so my whole life and now you are going and telling me to rely on you…"

"Never?" surprised, Shizuo raised his eyebrow.

"Never. You can´t trust anybody, thus you can´t accept help from anybody, it´s just a self-defense… excuse me for being careful you idiot." Izaya tried to explain. Suddenly Shizuo approached him again, just to look him directly into his eyes, before he spoke in a really low and soothing voice.

"Izaya, if I really wanted to kill you right now, didn´t it occur to you, that I would have already done it by now?"

Whoa, why was he so close now?

"Sure did… but without a fucking reason this means nothing…"

He looked away, he couldn´t stand Shizuo looking so intensively into his eyes. Kinda stirred a weird sensation. He mumbled on.

"Just why are you…" A grin appeared on Shizuo´s face. Izaya sighed.

"Oh yeah I know... figure it out yourself I guess?"

"Now you get it flea."

_How irritating… _

"Come on at least give me a hint... did you lose a bet?"

_First thing that came to mind…_

"Well that´s for you to find out."

Annoyed, Izaya leaned on the counter and watched Shizuo as he began preparing breakfast.

"You really like to annoy me right?"

Shizuo just chuckled as a response and turned around to finish cooking the scrambled eggs. Izaya watched him intensively. Kinda weird, having Shizuo in his apartment, _cooking_ for him…

"Eeh..~ Not even poisoning it I see?" he announced. Shizuo laughed as he turned around again and served him his portion. He himself sat down beside the informant.

"I would be a pretty shitty bodyguard if I killed you right?" Izaya giggled.

"Whoa, Shizu-chan uses his brain."

"Tch. Shut up."

Hungry, he tried a bite and his eyes widened in surprise. What the hell did he put in there? That was really delicious! Happy, he continued eating. His mind trailed back to his past a bit… He smiled. This was probably the first time someone actually cooked him breakfast… how nice…

"Thanks." He mumbled.

Shizuo raised his head.

"What did you sa-"

Surprised, he paused. Izaya had put on an expression the blond had never ever seen before, he couldn´t even have imagined him looking like that. Izaya was smiling. Neither his usual grin nor a masked one, but genuine. A really genuine smile. Shizuo couldn´t believe his eyes. Was eating making him that happy…?

Izaya seemed to have noticed Shizuo staring at him and frowned again.

"What?"

"Nothing." Izaya eyed him suspiciously.

Shizuo sighed, so much to the nice atmosphere they had before. He finished eating, stood up and grabbed his jacket.

"Gonna go outside for a smoke..." he announced.

"Go ahead." Izaya's stare followed him, until he closed the door. Izaya sighed heavily.

"God, that was weird…" He knew exactly what kind of expression he must have made and scolded himself for it. He wasn´t used to keeping up his masks 24/7. At least when Namie wasn´t here he could relax. He tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling.

"And again Shizuo is disturbing my pace…"

He finished eating, got up and went to his computer. At least he was able to walk that short of a distance… he turned it on.

„Now, let´s see, what´s been going on in my absence~?"

Curious, he browsed through his different informative websites. He read lots of interesting things, new rumors, all kinds of stuff, but as he stumbled over a certain piece of information he suddenly paused in shock. Uneasy, he read out aloud.

"The corpse has now been identified… it turned out to be the former co-company chief Shinge- WHAT?!" Surprised, he lunged forward. He couldn´t believe what he was reading. Shingeki was dead, yeah okay, shit happens, but what really honestly sent a shiver down his spine was the time it happened. They found the corpse 12 days ago.

12 days.

So the day Izaya had been kidnapped… he was already dead!

That could only mean one thing: someone else was after his life. Till now he thought the guys that kidnapped him were just spouting nonsense when they said Shingeki wasn´t their boss. Maybe he had introduced himself with another name and they just didn´t recognize him as Shingeki, but the fact that he was already dead at that time could only mean that it was really someone else who was behind all this.

He broke out in a cool sweat. This person, whoever it was, knew about him and Shingeki, after all he wanted it to look like it was him who killed him… if they succeeded that is. But that also meant, he knew about their relationship, or to be precise, about their deals… They were only communicating through the chat, which only let him conclude that he infiltrated his computer. That he knew _everything _he did here.

Now it also made sense how all his clients had conveniently found each other to take him down and why they had all been so damn cooperative the day before. And these weird incidents. The guy who wanted to shoot him, the guy that wanted to push him down the high-rise... He gulped, this was seriously dangerous. Quickly, he turned off the computer. He felt like suffocating as the immediate fear welled up inside him.

He had to act-_now_.

Fast, maybe a little too fast, he realized, flinching painfully as he stood up and dashed to the door grabbing his coat in the process.

That wasn´t good. Never ever had he been not in control of a situation. Shit… if they found him he was so dead… Good thing this building had an elevator, he wouldn´t have managed to go down the stairs. He stormed out of the building.

He looked around anxiously. Where was that stupid protozoan when he truly needed him?! Suddenly his gaze fell on a group of girls, surrounding a certain individual.

Izaya relaxed a bit as he recognized said individual as Shizuo. They seemed quite interested in the tall blond, which certainly didn´t apply to both sides. It was quite obvious that they were getting on his nerves.

Izaya smirked a bit. Annoyed Shizuo was definitely the best. But he had to admit Shizuo did have the looks to be that popular. Not forgetting the dangerousness of the current situation, he quickly approached the blond.

"Shizu-chan!" Said man rose his head in surprise as he heard the raven's voice.

"Izaya? What are you-?" he paused.

Not awaiting his reply Izaya went up to him and tugged his sleeve.

"Sorry ladies, he has to go now."

"Huh? What do you mean, you´re not going anywhere in your condition." Only now he realized that Izaya still wore the same things as before. Puzzled he looked at the flea. He seemed to be checking his surroundings… and to Shizuo´s surprise he actually seemed to be … anxious? Worried, he watched him.

"Izaya, what-" but the flea didn´t let him finish as he suddenly pulled him down and whispered into his ear.

"Shizuo, I need to go somewhere… _now_. And _you_ are accompanying me. Don´t even dare to take your eyes off me for a second."

Shizuo frowned. First telling him he didn´t need his help and now telling him not to take his eyes off him for even a second? No matter what it was, something was going on and it smelled damn dangerous. Moreover... Did he just call him _Shizuo_?!

"What happened?"

"Nothing you need to concern your little brain with Shizu-chan, just do as I told you~." He replied.

He didn´t like the bossy tone the flea was using, but he nodded. Somehow it seemed this wasn´t the time for one of their usual fights.

He followed the flea closely as they moved to wherever Izaya had to go now.

Izaya exhaled, relieved. The fact that Shizuo was with him somehow calmed him way more he would like to admit. As long as he stayed close to this brute nobody could kill him. As long as Shizuo was there he was safe.

They were almost at the informant's destination. Shizuo didn´t leave Izaya out of sight. That way he also noticed how he nervously glanced at his surroundings from time to time and the fact that he was putting on a hurt expression again.

Izaya felt the blond's stare on his back. He turned around and glared at him.

"Shizu-chan I don´t care what you do with me at my apartment, but if you even think of carrying me out here I _will _fucking kill you."

Shizuo sighed... well he thought as much. Only the fact they were walking besides each other without fighting attracted enough attention as it was.

To additionally avoid meeting more unnecessary people they went through alleys and sideways which turned out to be a good idea, until they suddenly entered one that wasn´t empty. They just had to run into trouble… A man was standing there in the middle of the street grinning at the two of them, looking like he had been waiting.

"Oh my, hello Izaya-kun!" he laughed and approached the two of them. Izaya gasped.

Shizuo shoved the flea behind himself protectively.

"What the fuck do you want?" he asked angrily.

"Oh I just have some business with Orihara over there." he grinned.

Suddenly he heard a squeal and turned around. There was another man, he had approached them from behind, grabbed Izaya by his shoulder and held him still.

The flea, being in pain due to the strong grip on his wound had no choice but to let it happen.

"Haha, now I got ya, when you were of guard!"

Flinching, Izaya saw how the man holding him put a knife to his throat. But Izaya didn´t even have time to say a thing, as a loud crashing sound resounded in the alley.

"Oi, asshole, move that knife even 1 mm and I will show you what hell is like!" Shizuo was visibly raging. He had ripped out a stop sign and was furiously pointing it at the man holding Izaya. Said man was now visibly terrified.

"Oi, oi, wait! Aren´t you Shizuo Heiwajima?! What´s wrong?! You want to see him dead too right?! How about we kill him together?!" he cried.

"How about no?!" And with that he suddenly threw the sign exactly between Izaya and the man´s head, making it crash into the wall. Shocked, the man´s body went limp and equally shocked Izaya tried to peel himself out of his grip as a strong hand grabbed him and Shizuo pulled him into his chest.

However this didn´t go unnoticed. Just that instant the man unfreezed and dashed forward with his knife in his hands, aiming for the raven's back. But he didn´t succeed stabbing him, as Shizuo stretched out his hand and deliberately took the knife into his palm.

„Shizuo!" Izaya squeaked.

Blood spilled on the ground, but said debt collector didn´t even flinch which caused the man to back away terrified. A loud scream escaped his lips as he turned around and head over heels dashed away.

Shizuo turned his head to glance at the other man, but it seemed he had decided to run away even earlier. There was no trace left of him.

Sighing he released the flea who stumbled back a few steps.

"W-What the hell was that, w-what if you hit me?!" Izaya stuttered.

Amused, Shizuo realized that he was talking about when he threw the sign. He chuckled.

"Don´t worry, I have a pretty good aim after these many years of throwing things at you. But really, just what do you do to make everyone want to kill you?" he asked, realizing the flea was still quite agitated.

"Sh-shut up! That was a freak, he is after me since long time ago, apparently I am at fault for him loosing his job or whatever. But I wouldn´t have thought he would… actually try something…" Izaya faded out.

Wait… That wasn´t good… normally a client of that caliber wouldn´t even dare to try anything… and that second guy … he grabbed him by his right shoulder first, almost as if he _knew_ that it was hurt. He gulped. He had a feeling that this certain someone spread information about him in the underground world and above it…

"Was he the reason?" Shizuo asked suddenly. Izaya looked up confused.

"Huh?"

"You were acting pretty alert before, so was he the reason?" he asked again.

Ah, shit, so he wasn´t hiding his fear well… he shook his head.

"No."

Surprised, Shizuo cocked his eyebrow.

"No?"

"That´s …" he sighed. Well, since Shizuo was the one actually protecting him and doing a good job with it by the way, the raven guessed he could let him in on a bit of information. He continued.

"I am being targeted by someone. And no, this isn´t as easy as some people taking advantage of me being hurt. That happened countless times before. This time there seems to be a mastermind that actually _uses_ my clients and other people to kill me. Normally I would be able to track somebody like that down with ease, but he infiltrated my computer, seems to know too much of me already and does a fucking good job at sending these killers after me."

He sighed.

"Shit, that´s not good."

Great, at least Shizuo got the severity of the situation.

"So now we are going to _my_ personal information broker. I need him to find out for me just who this mentioned bastard is." Shizuo looked at Izaya with surprise.

"Your own information broker?"

"Yeah, he will do the job. And after I get the name we will pay that bastard a visit and _the end_. Nobody will assault me at his command again."

With a look Shizuo couldn´t quite interpret Izaya glanced at Shizuo´s hand. The knife was still sticking in it and blood was oozing out. He gulped.

"…oi, I know you´re a hard one to beat, but doesn´t that hurt? Normally you would have to go to a doctor with it." He asked. Shizuo looked at his hand.

"Please, you have done worse. Just stings a bit. Well, I will go to Shinra´s place after your meeting."

"Really, you´re not fun to deal with." Izaya joked and looked to the ground. Shizuo had saved him yet again…

"…thanks." he mumbled.

"What?" surprised, he looked at the flea. Did he just say what he thought he said?!

"I said thanks… for saving me that is." Izaya repeated embarrassed and turned around to walk on.

"Now come on."

The earlier they got to his informant, the better.

They went on and this time nobody confronted them on their way. And neither of them talked. 5 minutes later they were standing in front of a shabby door in a dark alley. Shizuo frowned. No matter how he looked at it, this place smelled dangerous.

"Well, here we are, you don´t have to follow me in there, Shizu-chan." Izaya motioned to get inside as Shizuo grabbed his hand.

"Wait!" Surprised, Izaya looked at Shizuo.

"What…?" he asked.

"Are you really sure that this is safe?" Izaya sighed.

"Yeah, I am. The person waiting for me inside is probably the only one I am 100% sure of would never kill me." He tried to calm the blond.

"You really sure?" he asked again. Izaya nodded.

"Yes. Just wait here and make sure nobody comes in." Shizuo nodded sceptically and leaned against the door the moment the raven went inside.

**-inside. Izaya point of view.-**

Sighing he leaned against the closed door. Seemed he had a lucky day, being assaulted and surviving it…

_Just what is he planning?! He looked so fucking serious before!_ And now, it seemed almost as if he would care if something happened to him. He remembered the way Shizuo tugged him forward and out of the man's grip. God, he literally hugged him that moment...! Just like before when they fell from the high-rise... Red tinted his cheeks as he remembered the way he had clung to Shizuo...

He shook his head.

For now he had something else to worry about.

He sighed and stepped down the stairs leading to yet another door. It was locked with a code, but Izaya knew the combination of course.

He stepped into the room. It was completely dark, only a small candle-light in the middle of a single table lit it up a bit. A sofa and a swivel chair stood on both sides of it. A man was sitting in the latter.

He smirked as he saw the informant.

"Oh my, hello Izaya-san, got your ass handed to you I heard, what brings you here?" He chuckled at the sight of a visibly hurt arm and shoulder.

Izaya approached the man and sat down on the sofa opposite of him.

"Shut it, Ryosuke. You have to find something out for me." Said man burst out in laughter as he heard the request.

"You need information? The best information broker in Ikebukuro?! Whoa, what´s wrong? Normally you just want me to spill what new rumors and facts I know, but a specific request?"

Izaya nodded.

"Yeah, this time I really need your skill."

Ryosuke leaned back.

"Oh my, that´s going to cost you a lot Izaya, I hope you realize that?"

"I know. Is triple the usual sufficient?" he didn´t miss to notice the smile that crept over Ryosuke´s face as he spoke. He sure was one greedy bastard.

"Sounds good to me. Now, what is it that you want to know so bad?" He took a cigarette out of his coat and lit it. Finally he was in a serious mode…

With that Izaya spilled what had happened these last two weeks. He told him about the mails discussing the deals with Shingeki, his kidnapping, the possibility of a high-caliber being the true mastermind and everything else that happened or he had discovered up to now.

The informant nodded as Izaya had finished.

"So basically you want me to find that bastard and if possible finish him off as well."

"That would be the request."

"…deal." He blew the smoke into the air.

"But I sure am surprised. How did you get out of that warehouse Izaya-san?"

Izaya flinched at the question. He only mentioned being kidnapped and what they said and did. He never said anything about Shizuo. Should he? On the other hand this guy wouldn´t spill this kind of information for free and as greedy as he was nobody except him would be able to pay for it… he sighed.

Moreover he was kind of like Shiki-san, to a certain level he could probably trust the guy and even if he couldn´t, there was no way to get to him without meeting Shizuo. And nobody could take him out that easy.

"Well actually I have another mystery that seems out of my league." He gave away.

"Oh…? Two of them? Now you got me curious." He leaned forward, and extinguished the cigarette.

"It was Shizuo Heiwajima that saved my life that day. To be precise, not only did he save my life once, but quite a few times till now."

"Shizuo Heiwajima? Are we talking about the same guy that wants to kill you since high school?" he asked, visibly surprised.

Izaya nodded. And with that he spilled everything that happened with him till now.

He told him how he handed him over his phone when he hurt himself on the highway, how he fell down the high-rise and Shizuo actually jumped after him to save his life, the fact that he came to his rescue in the warehouse even though he wasn´t threatened, that he was seemingly protecting him from his followers while he was out of it, and all of the stuff that happened this morning.

As he finished his informant leant back and folded his hands.

"So, what do you think is going on? Why is he doing this?" Izaya asked, seriously curious if somehow his informant had an idea.

"Well, if I had to guess, from all you have told me till now I can only conclude this: he wants to get friendly with you to kill you. Or maybe make you believe you´re safe, so that someone else can catch you off guard and kill you his way. You know, the typical thing, torturing and so on… That would be the most logical conclusion for me."

However, Izaya just laughed at the statement.

"Haha, no way Ryosuke. You don´t know Shizu-chan, he isn´t that kind of guy, he hates ulterior motives and if he wants to see me dead, then he would kill me himself. He is the kind of guy who just settles his problems here and now." he chuckled.

"But then why isn´t he doing exactly that?" the informant tilted his head upwards, thinking.

"That´s the mystery Ryosuke." Izaya clarified.

"Hmmm… but what else-" suddenly his eyes widened and he burst out in laughter. Puzzled, Izaya watched the informant.

"What´s so funny?" Izaya asked staggered by his reacton.

"Sorry, I just thought of something really hilarious." he managed to say.

"Let me join the fun."

It took a bit till his laughter died down a bit so he could go on speaking.

"Well, it seems he doesn´t want to kill you anymore, right?" he began with a grin.

"Right."

"Moreover, it seems he doesn´t want you to get hurt, correct?"

"Correct."

"He cooked you breakfast, took a knife to his hand and constantly tries to protect you and is fucking unusually friendly, correct?"

"Also correct, care to come to the point?" Izaya asked really curious now as Ryosuke began to laugh again. He had no idea what he was getting at.

"Sorry, please don´t kill me now, that´s just too ridiculous to be true."

"Come on now, spill it, what´s so ridiculous?"

Laughing, he looked at Izaya.

"Well, I just thought… maybe he fell in love with you."

.

.

.

..._What...?_

**Oh my, he brushed it off as a joke, but will Izaya really think the same…? ;D **

**Umm, a little question on the sideline, is the story the way it´s progressing still as enjoyable as in the beginning or is it getting worse? Sorry if I am annoying… ^^'**

**-Meanwhile- **

***Shizuo still holding me up by the collar***

**Me: See Shizuo, Izaya wasn´t hurt, I let you save him! *lets go***

**Shizuo: Tch… alright, but still, stop doing that, seriously. **

**Me: ... b-but next time-**

**Shizuo: HAAAA?!**

**Me: Sorrrrrry! **

**Chapter 8: I won´t leave you! Due to: 3.7.2014**


	8. Chapter 8: I won't leave you!

**OH. MY. GOD! *0* You´re making me sooooo happy with your reviews! *0* Especially WaxWan! Really, just WOW! Thank you so much! :´D **

**And also, be thankful for this wonderful chapter ****corrected**** by Ikarusakurai! *-* Thank you! **

**Well, and with that said, let´s start! :D**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter 8: I won´t leave you!**

**Outside. Shizuo point of view.**

Deep in thoughts Shizuo drew another smoke from his cigarette. Angry at himself he remembered what the flea had said before. There was a certain mastermind behind this, and he wanted to kill Izaya, with no doubt. Furious, he threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped on it.

"Damn it!" The guy after Izaya was probably the guy that told him to observe the flea. In other words, the guy who wanted to see him dead.

_Arizawa._

He should have beaten that guy´s ass the moment he realized he didn´t want the flea to be dead... but seriously, who could have known that he was that dangerous of a bastard?

Annoyed, he scratched the back of his head...

Well that wasn´t the only thing he was pissed off about now. Sure, that Arizawa wanted to take Izaya down, but as long as he lived he wouldn´t let that happen. He would just have to protect the flea till he found the bastard.

Problem solved.

The other thing that really pissed him off was what the flea had said earlier.

_"He is the only one I am 100% sure off would never kill me." _

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?! Why the heck did he trust that guy so much?! Didn´t that louse tell him a minute ago that he had never ever trusted someone in his life?! So what the hell did he mean by that? Pretty annoying.

He shouldn´t trust shabby guys that worked in such an area... What if that informant wasn´t as trustworthy as he thought he was? What if something happened to Izaya while he was waiting?! What if he got killed down there?!

_That´s it._ Taken over by his worry he turned around to open the door leading down to where Izaya was, but paused immediately.

The moment he had laid his palm on the door´s handle it went down by itself.

A person wearing a hat and long coat had been the one opening it and stepped out of the darkness.

Was that the flea´s informant? Shizuo wondered. He tried to catch a glimpse of the man´s face, but the high collar made it impossible.

He shrugged, didn´t matter anyway, what he was more concerned about now, was the flea.

He stepped back a bit and leaned on the wall next to the door. Well, if the informant had come out then it surely wouldn´t be long till the flea turned up as well.

He decided to wait.

…

And he waited…

…

And waited…

…

And waited.

…

But the flea still didn´t show up.

_What´s taking him so long? _

**Inside the informant's room. A few minutes earlier. Izaya point of view. **

"Maybe he fell in love with you."

.

.

.

..._What_...?

Perplexed Izaya looked at Ryosuke.

…Did he just really…?

The fuck?! Shizuo?! loving him?!

_That can´t … no that´s just…_

_Impossible!... how would?! …_

For the first time Izaya didn´t know what to think.

"Haha, hilarious right?!" Ryosuke was still occupied with laughing his ass of on his idea, whereas Izaya…

"Y-yeah, pretty absurd." he replied, faking an amused smile.

"Right?! Ah…", he flipped open his phone, " I am sorry, it seems I have to go somewhere now, if you would excuse me." He stood up and went to the door through which Izaya had entered the room.

He grabbed his long coat and hat in the process.

"Just as usual, ne?" Izaya nodded.

He was referring to their leaving manner.

It was really important for both of them to not let the fact that they were working for each other leak out.

To avoid being seen together his informant always chose different places to meet up and they always left individually. Mostly, Ryosuke left first while covering himself up with his coat and hat and Izaya would go 5 minutes later.

He sighed and let himself fall back into the comfortable couch as his informant left the room and frowned at the suggestion he made.

"_Maybe he fell in love with you!" _

…

_No way…_

_That´s just not possible…_

Shizuo falling in love with him was as probable as hell freezing up! There was just no way that could ever happen!

That was just-

…

"No, wait… don´t let feelings get in the way of analysing situations." he scolded himself.

Normally a conclusion like this would be the most obvious to come to… just the aspect that it was Shizuo made it kind of unbelievable.

But actually…

He tilted his head towards the ceiling.

If he really thought about it… if he just ignored the fact that it was Shizuo they were talking about… could it be true?

He gave him his phone when he had hurt his ankle...

… because he loved him?

He jumped of a fucking building to save his life…

…because he loved him?

He rescued him from the warehouse without being threatened or being forced to do it…

…because he loved him?

He was his bodyguard to protect him, cooked him breakfast, didn´t want him to get hurt and took a knife to his palm…

…because he loved him?

Frowning, Izaya got up as he realized his 5 minutes were long up, and made his way to the door.

Seriously, if he thought about it, it sure did make sense, but it was Shizuo they were talking about… Shizuo Heiwajima.

The most unpredictable human there was…

There was just now way that-

Izaya stopped abruptly in his movement, as the door he wanted to open just flung open by itself. Surprised, he spotted Shizuo standing on the other side of it.

"Flea! What took you so long?" he asked the raven rather loud he had to say.

"Shizu-chan, may I ask what you are doing here?" he replied quite confused.

Shizuo grabbed one of his cancer sticks and lit it.

"Well… a few minutes before some guy came out of here and I figured he was that informant you were talking about. But you weren´t coming up, so I thought something might have happened... But you´re okay, right?"

Staggered, Izaya looked at Shizuo. So he was worried something might have happened? He came to check up on him?

But wouldn´t that imply that it was true? What Ryosuke said before… that Shizuo-

"Oi flea, what ya looking at? Do I have something on my face?" the blond suddenly asked.

Izaya quickly looked away as he realized he had been staring at Shizuo quite intensively.

"No… it´s nothing." he replied slowly.

Proof.

He needed some kind of proof, something that would irrevocably confirm what Ryosuke jokingly said, was true.

But how would he get something like that?! A proof for Shizuo loving him?! How could you prove a feeling?

IF he even loved him that is…

For now he had no choice, he would have to stick to simple observation whether he liked it or not.

"So?" Shizuo cleared his throat. "Is he going to find the bastard?"

"Yeah, he took the job…" Izaya began and started to go up the torturous stairs.

Stepping them down before had already hurt like hell… he was glad Shizuo didn´t realize that before, otherwise he would have probably done something unpredictable again, like carrying him down despite being told not to… but going up seemed to be even more difficult.

He turned around to glance at the ex-bartender.

_Just as I thought…_

Shizuo had tensed up again and had _that _look on his face. It probably dawned on him now that he had gone down those stairs before.

The raven tried to take another step, groaning as he realized that going up really hurt a hundredfold more than going down. He placed his uninjured hand on the wall to keep his balance as he stood still.

He glanced back at Shizuo again… He hated to admit it, but he would never get up there by today if he went on like this… he frowned.

As a matter of fact they were alone. Downstairs in a building whose entrance was located at the backside of an unfrequented alley.

_God_, he hated having to ask for _help_. Orihara Izaya never needed help! That was just not his style… Damn bastards, why did they have to shoot him?! If they hadn´t he wouldn´t be in this damn situation now…

He tried again to take a step, but his hope of being able to get up there nevertheless faded instantly as he felt the pain arching through his body again.

"Shizu-chan." he began hesitantly.

He really couldn´t do it…

"What?"

Embarrassed, he looked to the ground, his face hiding behind his bangs in the process.

"Shizu-chan… I…I don´t think I can get up there on my own." he mumbled quietly, however Shizuo seemed to have heard him, because the moment he finished his sentence the blond had already picked him up and went up the stairs.

Abashed, Izaya held onto his shirt. God, how much he hated having to ask for help… but he had no choice…

Unlike him Shizuo seemed to be quite happy about this little incident. Izaya rolled his eyes…

_Oh yeah, probably because I did as _he_ told me to earlier_...

The moment Shizuo reached the top of the staircase he let him down again. To Izaya´s relief, as unpredictable as the brute was, he could have intended to carry him home like that as well.

He slowly stepped out of the alley, making sure nobody saw him and motioned to go down the broad road. Shizuo following him of course.

"How long do you have to wait until you get your information?" Shizuo asked.

Well, at least Shizuo didn´t go on rambling on how weak Izaya was now. That would have really annoyed him. He really welcomed the change of topic so he decided to reward Shizuo by answering his question seriously instead of teasing him.

"Depends. Sometimes information gathering takes hours, sometimes it takes months. We´ll just have to wait…" he began.

Shizuo was walking close by, just as before. After all they were still in a pretty dangerous situation and Izaya couldn´t stand that at all.

"…or not." he finished.

"What?" Shizuo asked visibly confused.

Izaya chuckled at his reaction.

Not having control of a situation wasn´t only a thing he feared, but also something he absolutely hated. He always was the one pulling the strings in the background, so now he was going to end this as fast as possible.

Like hell he would just sit around and wait to get killed before that informant found out who the culprit was.

"What do you mean by that?" Shizuo asked again, obviously puzzled by Izaya´s words. Izaya smirked.

"Well, Shizu-chan, it means that I am going to research for myself a little bit."

Sure, he didn´t have his usual resources, since every last one of them was untrustworthy now, but why not gather information from humans he was still a stranger to? It´s been a while after all since he last went out and gathered information for himself.

"Ha? Didn´t you just hire that informant of yours to do that?" Annoyed, Izaya rolled his eyes.

"Yes, that´s true, Shizu-chan, but you know I am also an informant, what he can do I can too and maybe I will even find him faster than he does." he explained.

"If you´re doing it yourself either way, then why did you bother asking him?"

Izaya facepalmed. God, just how dumb was that protozoan?

"Look Shizu-chan, he´s an informant, and I am too, what do you think is more likely: that _one_ informant finds the culprit, or _two_ do it? Please, using your brain is not prohibited you know~" the raven teased.

"Shut up, flea." Shizuo grumbled.

Oh? Had he finally managed to annoy Shizuo? He smirked. That was good, so the old version of Shizu-chan was still there. Despite his weird behaviour.

"So, where are we going right now?" the man in question suddenly asked.

Izaya grinned.

"We are going to pay someone a visit." he replied.

"Ha?"

At first it had been Shingeki he suspected, but he was dead. However, the SMS he got shortly before he was kidnapped did come from Shingeki´s phone. That meant, no matter who it was that pulled the strings, they had some sort of connection to Shingeki.

Well, he was dead, but what about his boss? Or in general the people in the company? Surely he would find out something if he started to search for information there.

"Forget it, just follow me, ne Shizu-chan?" he smirked and so they went on.

It didn´t take long till they reached the company. After all they were only six blocks away from it. Which was certainly convenient in the flea's state.

There they were, in front of the company Shingeki worked at. It sure was a showy building. They didn´t hold back with baroque ornamentations it seemed. Oh god, who the hell did decide to build a company in such a way?

There were so many ornated decorations… honestly…

"And who exactly are you going to meet here?" Shizuo asked, rising his eyebrow at the building.

Surely he thought the same, this building was just so grotesque even Shizu-chan would be able to see that…

"Everyone." the raven answered simply.

"Huh?" Izaya sighed at the overly intelligent response.

"You see, someone connected to this whole mystery was working here until recently, so I am going to try getting some information and maybe I will even find a lead in there." he pointed to the oh-so-beautiful company.

"Got it." Shizuo replied and already moved to get going. However, Izaya tugged his sleeve to get him to stop.

"What now? I thought we were going in there?"

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a second." he mumbled while flipping open his phone and browsing through the internet.

_Where was it again…?_

"What are you doing, flea?" Shizuo asked.

"Studying." he replied simply.

_Ah there it is!_

"You do what?" He showed Shizuo the phone, the outline of a building was being shown on the screen.

"I am memorizing the outline of this building." he explained, taking his phone back.

"Why?"

Izaya sighed, however didn´t look up as he continued to explain.

"Listen, I don´t like entering a building I don´t know where the different exits are. There is always the possibility of running into any kind of trouble and having to flee suddenly. Ever wondered why I always manage to outrun you? Sure I am fast, but I also memorized the complete urban plan of Ikebukuro. Even the tiniest alleys and streets are well known to me. That way I always manage to lose you. Comes in handy right? Similar to that I always memorize the whole map of a building before actually entering it."

"Eeh… You have a pretty good memory." Shizuo suddenly said. Surprised, Izaya looked at the debt collector.

"Whoa, wait, was that a compliment? Thank you so much Shizu-chan~" he laughed amused.

"But you know, if you didn´t always mess up peoples' lives, then you wouldn´t need to do that."

Izaya shrugged nonchalantly.

"It´s them who mess up, I usually don´t contribute too much to it… Either way, I have finished, let´s go Shizu-chan~." he slipped his phone back into his pocket and entered the company.

First, they would go up to the fourteenth floor. That´s the one Shingeki had been working on as far as he knew. His colleagues would surely know some things about him, be they relevant or not.

The first thing Izaya noticed when they entered the building was that there was a big, and he really meant **big**, elevator right beside the entrance. He didn´t even look at the likewise large hall that they entered and headed straight for the elevator. Honestly, who was the architect of this building?! The way it was constructed really disgusted him.

He leaned back onto a huge mirror placed inside the elevator, probably to make it seem even bigger, as they headed for the 14th floor, not that he minded.

However, Izaya rose his eyebrows in surprise when the elevator suddenly stopped on the 13th floor, not moving an inch further. The doors opened, and suddenly a rather old man was standing right before them.

He told them that the 14th floor was currently being renovated and that they would have to go to the hall on the right to get up. Izaya looked where the man was pointing. Right, he had wondered, what these red markings on the map had meant.

So they were renovating.

_Sure is necessary…_ he thought. Maybe they would rip down those ridiculous frills. He thanked the man with one of his usual smiles. If by any chance he needed to talk to him later he wanted to leave a nice impression. However, Shizuo didn´t really contribute anything to that. He was still putting on that face that kinda said, "speak to me and you´re dead"… the old man backed away visibly uncomfortable in the blond´s presence. Izaya sighed.

"Shizu-chan, could you please put on a friendlier face~? You´re scaring my potential information resources." he pouted playfully, when suddenly his phone gave off a certain sound implying that he had gotten a SMS.

"Friendlier face? Why should I do that?" Shizuo mumbled, visibly annoyed.

Izaya sighed and flipped open his phone. Why was he so pissed off now? He really loved it when Shizuo was that angry, but now was somehow one of the times Izaya wished he wasn´t.

"What´s wrong, Shizu-chan, why are you-" shocked, he paused.

Shizuo who had walked a bit ahead of him turned around due to the flea suddenly stopping speaking.

"Am I what?" he asked.

Disbelieving, Izaya stared at his phone.

"What the-?!"

_What the hell is going on?! _

"Izaya?" Shizuo repeated.

"1 new message from Shingeki:" Izaya read out loud.

"_**You are becoming predictable**_."

Izaya already opened his mouth to say something, however didn´t get to bring even one word out as suddenly an unbearable loud sound chimed and nothing but darkness overwhelmed the flea.

**- A few minutes later. Izaya point of view.-**

…

Hot…

…

It was hot.

Slowly Izaya opened his eyes.

_Where…?_

His sight was blurred.

There was nothing but red…

_What happened…?_

He tried to sit up.

God damn, his head hurt, and his waist did too.

_It´s so hot…_

What happened? What-

"Ouch!" Izaya flinched away, as suddenly something hurt his uninjured arm.

_What-?_

Suddenly his eyes shot open, his sight still blurry. But now Izaya got what that red colour he saw was.

_Fire!_

There was fire around him! What -?!

Right! Before… he got that SMS and then… his eyes widened as realization hit him. That loud sound that followed then… that was a fucking explosion!

He rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of this haziness. At least that worked and so he immediately scanned his surroundings. But except the huge flames that burned everything down around him, he couldn´t see a thing. Smoke was already covering one-third of the room and all he could see, was that he was captured by flames.

"OI! Is there someone?! Help!"

No response.

He tried again, louder this time.

"OI! ANYBO-" A violent cough prevented him from ending his sentence. Huffing, he lied back down on the ground.

Fuck, his body hurt! Suddenly he realized why, as he saw red dying his shirt.

Shit, the wound on his waist had reopened. He didn´t know whether it happened just now or if it was his fault for wandering around all day.. either way, the fact was, the smoke was getting to him, his shoulder and waist hurt from coughing and he didn´t have a fucking clue, how he would get out of here.

_Shit…!_

**-Shizuo and Izaya point of view.-**

Coughing Shizuo opened his eyes again.

What the hell happened?!

He looked around in shock, as he realized there was fire everywhere.

"What the hell?!"

Why was there fire?! What happened?

There was some really loud noise, and then everything went black. He remembered the flea's last words, something about becoming predictab-

_IZAYA!_

His eyes widened. Immediately he looked around.

_Where?! Where is Izaya?!_

Flames were surrounding him and smoke was already filling the passage.

Coughing, he dashed through the flames.

The flea had been right behind him.

Worry overflowed, as he suddenly saw a figure lying huddled on the floor.

"Izaya!" Shizuo alomst drowned in relief as the flea suddenly moved his head, looking surprised at the debt collector.

"Shizu-chan?!" Immediately he dashed over, grabbed the flea and moved him away from the dangerously close flames.

"Izaya, are you hurt?!" he asked, still coughing from the lack of oxygen in the air.

However, Izaya just stared at him dumfounded.

"The hell?! What are you doing?! You should run for your life! Not making an effort to save mine."

Why the hell was he doing this again and again?! It was almost as if Ryosuke was right.

Perplexed, Shizuo looked at Izaya.

_What?!_ What damn nonsense was he spouting now?! Of course he wou-

Suddenly he paused.

"Oi Izaya, you´re bleeding!"

"No shit Sherlock..." the raven replied frowning.

Worried, Shizuo looked at the flea. Well as long as he could reply with such comments he was somehow okay, but he had to get him out of here.

"Can you manage to climb on my back?" he asked.

Izaya looked at Shizuo and tried to move.

"Well, I gues-", he paused. "…What ya gonna do?!"

"You memorized that map earlier, right? So you´re gonna tell me the shortest way out and I am gonna carry you to the exit." the blond explained, while motioning Izaya to get on.

Understanding, Izaya nodded.

So that´s why Shizuo didn´t run off without him. That dumb protozoan probably didn´t know how to get out of here.

He hissed as Shizuo stood up with him holding onto debt collector's neck. Then the blond ran with Izaya pointing from time to time where he had to go.

And he already thought he did it because he loved him… Izaya thought as they made their escape.

_I could have predicted this, after all, why else would he help me?_ _He is just like the others. Only needs me to survive himself. _

He sighed. So he was wrong. And he already thought his informant was actually right.

What interesting games he could have played with Shizu-chan if it had been true.

He already thought he was…

Somehow he was disappointed.

He totally thought he was right, after all the things he did… A thought crossed his mind.

But maybe he really was in love with him and he just pretended not to be, after all, he _did_ save him again just now so-

Wait.

…

Why was he so fixated on proving that Shizuo loved him?

After all it´s not like he would wish for that right? It´s just another game he wanted to win right?

Suddenly Shizuo stopped.

There was the door with a sign reading exit. That´s it, they just had to get out there, go down the fire escape and happy end… he thought.

However, things didn´t quite go the way he planned. Firstly the door was locked.

"The fuck, who locks an emergency escape?!" Izaya spat annoyed.

However, Shizuo just laughed.

"Calm down flea, it´s not like this will prevent us from opening it right? Get down for a bit."

Shizuo dropped the raven gently to the floor before he went up to the door and ripped it out of its hingers.

_There he goes, using his excessive strength again. _

"Shizu-chan, you do know that kicking the door open would have been sufficient right?" Izaya giggled, until he saw the blond´s expression.

"There is no fire escape."

…

_What?_

There was no-

Realizing, Izaya remembered the old man´s words. The floor was being renovated. The exit door was locked because there was no escape anymore.

He gulped. Shit.

_That´s it. _

_It´s over_.

They were on the 13th floor. Falling from a high-rise of 5 floors he had survived, but 13 were too much.

Only Shizuo would survive jumping down there.

He would leave him.

Like every sane human would. Everyone, even his sisters would discard him in such a situation.

He would die in here and Shizuo would survive.

Shit.

He moved to get up.

He didn´t want to die yet!

If he remembered correctly there was another exit down the stairs.

"Oi Izaya, is there another exit here?" Shizuo suddenly asked.

Izaya coughed. Didn´t that brute get already that he cold jump down there?

"Yeah there is, but it´s pretty far away, you can jump down here just fine."

"That´s true, but wouldn´t you die from the impact?"

Izaya sighed.

"Correct, but don´t worry, you can leave me here, like every sane human would." Izaya replied frowning.

"What do you-"

"Come on, what are you waiting for? You should hurry, if you don´t jump soon the floor might collapse, before you can get out."

Slowly Izaya took a step towards the direction of the second exit. He flinched.

_Damnit…!_ His wound hurt so much, he couldn´t even walk properly.

Shizuo looked shocked at the flea. What the hell was he saying?!

Did he really think he would just leave him here?! Did he really think he would just run for his life when Izaya was still there?! Did he really- !?

Shizuo gritted his teeth in anger as he approached the flea and turned him forcefully around.

"DON`T FUCK WITH ME IZAYA!" he yelled. Izaya´s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the raging blond.

"Shiz-"

"The hell are you saying?! If I just wanted to flee, then I could have jumped out of a window ages ago! I won´t leave you!"

Izaya looked at Shizuo, speechless.

_Huh…? _

_Did he really…_

_He won´t leave him…?_

_He won´t…_

He didn´t have time to sort his thoughts, as Shizuo suddenly slid his hand down his legs and picked him up effortlessly.

"Woah!"

"Where?" he grumbled.

"Huh?"

"Don´t 'huh' me, the floor is crashing down, you said there was another exit, where do I have to go?" Staggered, Izaya pointed down the hall.

Immediately Shizuo dashed in the direction Izaya pointed to, holding the flea even closer as he did that.

…

What should he do?

Izaya didn´t know what to think anymore.

This time he didn´t think of it being embarrassing to be held in Shizuo´s strong arms.

This time he felt secure. A strange feeling stirred in his stomach as he looked at Shizuo´s expression.

Determination and worry were deeply engraved in it. Determination to save him and worry for his injuries.

…

What was that unknown sensation he felt…?

...

This time they found the exit without a problem. The door was open and the fire escape was intact.

"We are out." Shizuo sighed in relief as he stepped down the last of the stairs.

He coughed a bit.

Shit, he really was scared there for a moment. He looked at the flea, still holding him in his arms. The raven still gripped rather tightly to Shizuo´s shirt.

He held him closer to look at him.

"Oi, you alright?"

Izaya stared back at him blushing slightly as he pulled him closer.

It took him a moment to realize that he had asked him a question. Hurriedly he looked away.

"N-no, I am not, you are crushing me like that!" he referred to the close "hug".

"Ah.. sorry" now it was Shizuo´s turn to be embarrassed.

He loosened his grip on the flea and began to walk towards Shinra´s.

Izaya noticed immediately that he wasn´t going in the direction of his apartment. He frowned.

"Shizu-chan, where are you going?" he asked the ex-bartender.

"Bringing you to Shinra." he replied simply.

Izaya froze.

_NO FUCKING WAY!_

"No, no Shizu-chan, I am fine! I don´t need to go to Shinra´s!" he tried to assure the blond.

He gulped. No way in hell would he allow Shizuo to just carry him to Shinra´s place. Disregarding the fact that the whole of Ikebukuro would probably see them, Shinra Kishitani, the most annoying pest he has ever met, would gladly remind him all life long of the fact that Shizuo _carried_ him in his arms. _Bridal-style_.

"You´re bleeding!" Shizuo frowned.

"I am fine!" Izaya cried.

Suddenly Shizuo got on his knees. Surprised Izaya wrapped his arm tighter around his neck.

Shizuo chuckled.

"Don´t worry, I won´t let you fall." He gently sat the flea on the ground, letting him lean onto a wall. Surprised, Izaya stared at the blond as he suddenly opened his coat.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Checking your injury of course. I am sure you don´t expect I will just believe you when you say _you´re okay_. We had that fight before, remember?" he answered proceeding to undress Izaya´s upper body.

He flinched as Shizuo took the shirt off his wound. The blood had already began to dry and was painfully sticking to the cloth as he removed it.

Izaya noted the apologetic look Shizuo gave him as he looked at the flea.

Well, at least he wouldn´t have to carry him to Shinra. His wound really wasn´t that bad. Okay it had begun bleeding a bit and hurt, but the stitches Shinra made were still okay.

"See? Told ya" Izaya sighed with relief.

With that, the topic was closed.

Shizuo gently picked up the flea again and carried him home, taking alleys of course. He knew the moment he stepped onto the broad street Izaya would do everything in his power to make Shizuo put him down.

Anyway, he was surprised by the fact that Izaya actually let him carry him.

_He must hurt pretty much. _

Little did he know, that Izaya actually … _enjoyed_ being carried by the blond…

**- few minutes later. Izaya point of view.-**

At least they got home without further interruptions.

"Ouch! Shizu-chan, that hurts!" Izaya hissed.

The moment the two of them entered Izaya´s apartment Shizuo put him on the couch and began changing his bandages. However he accidentally wrapped it to tight.

"Sorry." Shizuo replied and continued wrapping the flea up.

"Is it okay that way? Should I make it tighter or-"

"Shizu-chan, you sound like a worried mother~" Izaya chuckled at the guilty look of the debt collector.

A vein popped on his head as Izaya made fun of him.

"I guess I should indeed make it tighter." he dared and pulled jokingly at the bandage.

"Nonono! Just kidding!" Izaya hurriedly replied. Shizuo sighed.

"But you know, we sure were lucky to escape from that building… or should I say unlucky? Since we got caught in the explosion?" he said.

Izaya frowned.

"That was no accident Shizu-chan." he answered sternly. Surprised, Shizuo jerked his head up.

"What?!" Instead of answering Izaya flipped open his phone and showed him the SMS.

**You are becoming predictable.**

"I got this roughly 1 minute before the explosion started." Izaya explained while Shizuo was still staring disbelieving at the screen.

"That bastard! But wait, didn´t you get the name that way? It was Shingeki right?"

Izaya shook his head.

"No, it wasn´t. It´s true the SMS was sent from his phone again, but Shingeki is dead. It wasn´t him." he sighed.

God damn, this was complicated.

"Tch, just so you know flea, we are going to stay here from now on."

"What?"

"You hear me, who knows what traps that bastard set up for you outside. We are going to stay here, till your informant figures out just who this asshole is so I can protect you better."

Izaya's eyes widened at that statement.

So he could protect him better…

Slight red tainted his cheeks as he looked away.

Why the hell was the brute so obsessed with protecting him…?

Not that he minded… kinda made him feel… loved.

…

Not that Shizuo loved him!

Or did he...?!

Aaahh! He didn´t know anymore.

Frustrated, he sighed heavily. He was tired, so much happened today, he just wanted to sleep now… despite it being only 3 pm.

As if Shizuo read his mind, he suddenly picked the flea up. Surprised, Izaya clung to his shirt.

"Shizu-chan?"

"You´re exhausted right? Doesn´t surprise me, you dragged yourself around way to much for a hurt person. Go to sleep flea." he said and tugged Izaya into bed. The raven nodded weary, closing his eyes in the process.

"Good idea." Shizuo pulled a blanket over Izaya and quietly left the room.

"Good night, flea." He whispered as he closed the door.

Izaya´s eyes shot open again. He felt a hot flush spread over his face.

_Goooooood… What a day!_

He was so sure Shizuo would leave him there! Well everyone would… but he didn´t! His words resounded again in his memory.

_I won´t leave you! _

A slight blush tinted his cheeks. That almost sounded like a confession! Not that it was… or was it?!

And when he carried him home... He held him so close … so….

And then, when he changed his bandages. Each time he wrapped them around his waist he was leaning forward so much… almost as if he was hugging him…!

Not that he minded… wait, shouldn´t he mind?!

And now, what was with that sweet "good night"?! He put his arm over his eyes.

Damnit, how was he supposed to sleep now…?

**Awwww…. Izaya~ Could it be you have taken a liking to Shizuo…? *0* **

**I hope you liked this chapter~ -^.^- Next chapter the really fluffy part will start. ;D**

**Chapter 9: Mixed feelings 1 (prepare for "diabetes"~ ;3 ) Due to: 10.7.2014**


	9. Chapter 9: Mixed feelings 1

**Whoah! O.O Thank you soooo much for your amazing reviews! *0* Honestly, you guys are the best! *-* I always get so motivated whenever I read such lovely reviews, makes me wanna do nothing but write whenever I have the time to do so. XD Honestly, thank you! **

**And, I just have to mention you again, WaxWan! Thank you for motivating me so much! You are great! *-* **

**And thank you, IkaruSakurai! For correcting my chapters and putting up with my damn unpunctuality… ^^' Thank you! :3**

**Well, and with that being said, enjoy the start of Fluffyness! ;D **

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter 9: Mixed feelings 1**

**Both point of view**

It was dark.

So terrifying dark.

"Izaya-kun~"

A voice.

"No!" Izaya yelled.

"Come on, we should get going~"

A hysterical laugh.

"No! I don´t want to!"

Izaya struggled, he screamed, he trashed around.

"But you have no choice, ne I-za-ya-kun~"

"No!"

He didn´t want that! He wanted to go! To leave!

Why? Why didn´t they just let him?

What did he do to deserve this?

A cold hand tugged him by the collar dragging him forward.

"No! No!" he knew what was coming now.

"NO!"

Terrified, Izaya opened his eyes. Heart beating at a fast speed, breathing way too quickly, making him feel dizzy. A chill ran down his spine and his wounds reminded him gladly of their presence as he shot up.

Panting, he looked around. It wasn´t dark anymore. It was bright. He could move freely. A heavy sigh escaped the informant´s lips as he realized where he was.

His bedroom.

It had just been another dream. Relieved, he let himself fall back again, staggered as he felt soft pillows instead of a pile of sheets underneath him.

Surprised, he looked back and realized that he was still in his bed, not on the floor as usual.

How weird, the last time he woke up in bed had been years ago…

Only now that he scanned his surroundings, he realized what the reason for this change was.

His bed had changed positions.

Instead of standing in the middle of the room, it had been moved so it stood right next to the wall, making it impossible to fall down.

_So that´s why the dream was so vivid… _

He frowned annoyed.

_How…?_

Had he been sleepwalking again?

He had never been aware that he was the type to walk around in his sleep. But now it had been two times already where he woke up and couldn´t figure out what happened…

Slowly, he tried to sit up again. It still hurt, but was a lot better compared to before. He looked at the clock.

1 pm.

…

_What?_

His eyes widened in surprise.

_The fuck, did I really sleep 22 hours straight?!_

No wonder his injuries didn´t hurt as much any more…

He got up carefully, not wanting to cause himself pain. But just as sitting up hadn´t hurt that much anymore, standing up too was almost painless. He even managed to push the bed back to its right place.

He sighed. Honestly, there he went and made sure to wake up before his dreams became to terrifying and then this…

Loud clattering disturbed his thoughts and he immediately stopped moving. His eyes widened and his heart beat accelerated at a high speed while he held his breath. Vivid pictures of his dream popped up again.

There was someone in his apartment…

A chill ran down his spine.

_Who…?_!

…

Ah…

He facepalmed and exhaled with relief as realization hit him.

_Shizuo! _

God, right, it was just Shizuo! Not Hono. Just Shizuo!

He sighed as he tried to calm down again.

Damnit, he still kept forgetting that the ex-bartender was now with him 24/7...

He rubbed his eyes sleepily, pausing as he felt tears running down his cheeks. He stopped in surprise.

He even cried?!

_Damnit…_

Quickly, he wiped them away using his long sleeve. Thank god Shizuo hadn´t seen him. He probably would have laughed his ass off.

He paused.

…

No.

Actually Izaya got the feeling he wouldn´t. He would definitely have 1 month ago, but now… He got the feeling that if Shizuo saw him now, he would try to comfort him, instead of laughing at him...

He chuckled. Maybe he would tell him again that he won´t leave him?

Like yesterday…

When he saved him...

Slight red tinted his cheeks as he remembered what had happened the day before.

Shit. And again he caught himself unintentionally thinking about the blond. Dammit, it already took him an hour till he managed to sleep yesterday, because he just couldn´t stop thinking, and now?!

He sighed.

Actually it was not what Shizuo actually had _done _that troubled him, but what Izaya _felt_ while he did.

He shouldn´t care, right? It was okay to feel relieved, but then he should forget it again, right?

And yet he found himself replaying the events that happened the day before, again and again, and fucking again!

And now even those that had occurred even longer ago! And then there was that weird sensation accompanying these memories ever since Shizuo had told him he wouldn´t leave him! God damn it, what was wrong with him?!

And why the fuck did he always want to _smile _whenever he thought about it?!

Why?! He hated not being able to control his own thoughts.

He shook his head.

_Just stop thinking about it…_

He folded the bed sheets and put them back on his bed. Then he inhaled deeply, trying to push back the weird happiness that came haunting him.

_Ignore it, just ignore it…_ he told himself.

He put on his usual "mask" again and stepped out of his bedroom, ready to face Shizuo again for a day. Or should he say half a day? It was already afternoon already… Either way, he hastily opened the door and stepped out of it.

Shizuo still wasn´t in sight. He proceeded going down the stairs which he proudly succeeded in without having to call for help.

He really thought he did everything right, he pushed back the thoughts, the feelings, everything. He just had to stop thinking about it, then the weird feelings would disappear as well, right?

Or so he thought.

But fucking Shizuo just had to surprise him so much that he fell out of his role completely.

Izaya´s mouth gaped open as he turned around the corner and looked into the kitchen.

There he was.

**No** shirt.

Hair dripping wet.

A towel around his broad shoulders.

Water running down his defined chest, looking at him with golden eyes as he noticed the flea.

What the hell was with this perfect body of his?!

"Ah, good _morning_ Izaya." he chuckled as he saw the flea. He look quite disshelved was rubbing his eyes and his hair was sticking from his head in weird directions.

He looked cute.

"Morning." Izaya mumbled, as he looked away cheeks getting red again.

God damn it! He couldn´t look him in the eye! Not after what he **said**, and **did**, and-_oh god put a fucking shirt on…! _

He glanced back to Shizuo while walking towards the counter.

Fuck, he really did have a trained body. Not that he didn´t know, he could feel these strong muscles perfectly through the thin fabric of his shirt the day before.

When he told him he wouldn´t leave. After all, he did hold him really close as he carried him.

_In his arms, bridal-style_. And-

_Nonono! Stop it! Stop thinking about this __**again!**_

"Um Shizu-chan, dare I ask, why you aren´t wearing a shirt?" Izaya asked instead, still avoiding eye contact.

"Ah, sorry I borrowed your shower before without asking." the blond replied.

Izaya sighed.

"Yeah, I can see that, but mind to enlighten me why you aren´t wearing one now?"

"Can´t I?"

Izaya didn´t answer, instead he just sighed and sat down at the counter.

"Forget it."

Somehow the flea was acting weird… Shizuo didn´t know why, but it certainly seemed, as if he avoided looking him into the eye.

_Why? _

Maybe he realized he had been up in his bedroom before?

While observing him before Shizuo had always thought Izaya was just a restless sleeper. Well, now he knew better.

The flea was having nightmares. At least he had one this morning.

Earlier he went up to take a look at the flea, seeing if he was still okay. After all he was sleeping fucking long and well… he was not. He was actually talking in his sleep. And what he said didn´t sound like he was having a nice dream at all.

Words like "don´t" or "let me go" mixed with multiple "noes" were what escaped the flea´s mouth.

He shook the flea by his shoulders, initially trying to wake him up. But instead, Izaya just turned around and grabbed his arm, pressing it close to his chest. A single "Shizu-chan" escaped his lips as his face took on a peaceful expression again.

He refrained from waking the flea at that point, after all his dream was over. Instead he remembered the way Izaya liked to fall out of bed everyday, so he pushed it against a wall.

But still…

What the hell was he dreaming about?!

"What are you cooking?" Izaya suddenly asked, snapping Shizuo out of his thoughts.

_Cooking?_

_Oh FUCK! Cooking! _

Hastily he turned back to the stove.

"Shit!", he sweared while trying to save the food. Just in time, a minute more and it would have burnt.

"Whew. That was close."

Almost ruined their meal there…

Suddenly he realized Izaya was standing right next him looking curiously over his shoulder.

"Eh? Yakisoba? Woah, I didn´t know you could actually cook!" he chuckled.

Shizuo grinned. He usually didn´t cook since he was alone anyway, but nevertheless he was at least capable of cooking a few dishes.

"You can bet, this will be the best you ever ate!" he answered while serving the flea his portion.

Only now, that the meal was standing right in front of the flea, he realized just how hungry he was.

He mumbled a quick „itadakimasu" and started eating. And Shizuo´s words sure proved to be true, it tasted delicious! He was glad Shizuo had made a share for him as well.

Shizuo chuckled as he watched the flea, obviously enjoying his meal. He got his own portion and sat down as well.

After Izaya finished, now satisfied, he looked at the clock again. 1:21 pm.

_It should be open now_.

"When you finish eating we will go back again." Izaya stated.

Surprised Shizuo rose his head.

"What?"

The flea carried the plate to the sink, before answering.

"The company. Given we were assaulted, we should resear-"

"No."

Abruptly Izaya paused and looked staggered at the blond. Who was definitely not amused.

_Eh?_

"No? What do you-"

"Izaya, someone tried to kill you there! You are definitely not going back there again. It´s too dangerous" he explained frowning.

"Hah? Then what do you expect me to do?" Izaya asked annoyed.

Who did that brute think he was that he could tell him what to do?

"Stay here and heal. That informant of yours should figure this out, not you." Shizuo responded in a commanding tone.

"No way! I am going." Izaya clarified and stood up, meal already finished and grabbed his coat.

"I don´t think so."

Shizuo got up as well, passed the flea and leaned back on the door, blocking the way.

"Shizu-chan, move." Izaya hissed. But the blond of course didn´t do as told. Instead he just crossed his arms.

"Make me."

_That damn brute! _He should just wait..!

Izaya shrugged his shoulders in feigned defeat_. _

"I give up." Shizuo nodded seemingly approving and stopped leaning on the door.

_Ha! No way!_

The moment he did so, Izaya ducked under his arm and reached for the handle. He was well enough to do so, and once he was outside he would manage to lose the debt collector somehow.

Well, or so he thought, but his plan was crushed immediately as he suddenly felt his hand being grabbed and tugged backwards, making him fall down. Preparing for the impact Izaya closed his eyes.

Shizuo smirked as he caught the flea and pinned him against the wall.

"Seriously flea? You think I believe you when you say you _give up _that fast?" he chuckled looking at the now trapped Izaya. Annoyed, the flea glared back. He tried to struggle, but only ended up hurting himself that way.

Shizuo loosened his grip a bit as he realized this. He sighed.

A surprised yelp escaped the flea´s lips, as Shizuo suddenly picked him up from the floor.

"Shizu-chan, what are yo-." He didn´t get to finish his sentence as he suddenly got dropped on the couch. Shizuo smirked before moving out of his sight. Hastly Izaya got up. Curious he watched the ex-bartender and froze when he suddenly began moving the bookshelf next to him.

He realized with a shock what Shizuo intended to do. He wanted to lock him in here by putting it in front of the door.

Shizuo sighed. The damn bookshelf sure was a pain in the ass to push, with these many books stocked in it. He didn´t want to clean up the mess when they fell out. But he had no choice, he didn´t have the key to lock the door.

However, he had only moved it about 2 meters, when Izaya suddenly approached him.

"Stop! Leave the bookshelf, I will stay!" he surrendered. Confused, Shizuo looked at the flea. _What?_ Was that his next try to get away? He shook his head and already motioned to keep pushing, when he felt a hand grab his.

Surprised, he looked back.

"Please, Shizuo!" Izaya looked at him almost pleading.

_What. the. hell? _

_Please?_

_Shizuo_?!

Both words he rarely heard from the flea.

_Why so serious? _

Did he keep some kind of secret behind the bookshelf? Or was it something else that seemed to upset him so much? Shizuo looked at the flea dubiously. Somehow he looked like he really meant it.

He sighed and pushed the bookshelf back.

Fine. If the flea was asking him like that how could he say no?

"One more try and I will move it again, okay?" he made it clear, earning a relieved nod from the flea.

_Thank god_. He wouldn´t have known what to do if Shizuo really placed the bookshelf in front of his door. He sighed, relieved.

_That was close…_

He watched Shizuo as he went back and continued eating.

Damnit, didn´t that brute have anything to do besides watching him?

Wait, wasn´t he a debt collector?

Now that he thought of it, he had been around Izaya 24/7 for more than 2 weeks, including the time he was sleeping. Wasn´t he a debt collector?

"Shizu-chan, what about your job?" he asked curious.

"Hah?" Shizuo looked up.

"Your job, protozoan. You know the one as debt collector. What about Tom?" Now the blond seemed to get what the flea was talking about.

"Ah, he called when you were asleep. I told him I had a different job for now."

He called when he was asleep? And what about those 10 days before? Suddenly he remembered.

Right, when he called Shizuo when he was trapped in the hall he did say something about Tom being in Russia. So that´s why he only called now.

He sighed. So that opportunity to get the blond out of his apartment disappeared as well.

"What are we gonna do in here all day long?" Shizuo suddenly asked while putting away the dishes. Izaya smirked.

"Not much, but as I said before, we could still-"

"No." Prompt answer. Izaya didn´t even get to finish.

He pouted and tried yet another move.

"Well, if you want to go out, then do so. I am not stopping you." Izaya suggested.

"Yeah and you will behave and stay here. Sure. And pigs can fly." Unwillingly Izaya followed him with his eyes.

The blond went to the sink and drank a glass of water. Now that he thought of it, did he really have no reason to go out at all? Meeting friends... no, he didn´t have that many. His brother? Wasn´t even in the city. Someone els-

…

…

"Shizu-chan…" the flea began.

"Hm?" Shizuo hummed while gulping down the cool liquid. What attempt would come next, he wondered.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

The ex-bartender nearly spit out the water at the sudden question and turned around, surprised. The flea was sitting on the couch, staring at him.

_What the-?!_

"Huh?!"

_Where did that come from?!_

"Have you ever been interested in someone?" the raven went on asking.

Confused, Shizuo looked at the flea. _Why the hell is he looking at me so intensively?! Why does he want to know-_

Shizuo froze as a single thought crossed his mind.

_Did he find out about me liking him?!_

"No." he answered hastily, trying to sound calm.

"Eeh~, is that so." Izaya still looked at him with quite the weird expression.

_He´s lying. Definitely. _Izaya had been observing Shizuo for so long, he knew him better than anyone else, and he was sure he was lying just now. The only question was, why?

Was he actually interested in someone in the past? Or did he not want to admit that he now liked the flea? Either one of these optinons had to be it.

Izaya stared at him intensively.

_Which is it?_

Uneasy, Shizuo shifted from one leg to another.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked the flea.

Izaya flinched.

_Eh._

_Good question. _

Why _did_ he want to know? What did it matter now if Shizuo ever had a girlfriend…?

He frowned. Where did that come from, and why the hell did he feel so discontent thinking about it…?!

"Just… curious." He replied, still in an inner turmoil.

Suddenly he noticed Shizuo´s hand. The one that had been stabbed the day before. It was bandaged quite messily.

"What the hell? Did you wrap that up yourself?" he asked, pointing at Shizuo´s palm. Shizuo glanced at his palm. Right, he bandaged it the day before.

"Ah, yeah, I forgot to go to Shinra, and didn´t wanna wake you when you were sleeping."

_He didn´t wanna- _

Izaya frowned as he stood up.

"Come with me." he ordered. Shizuo obeyed and curiously followed the flea to the bathroom.

"Sit." the raven ordered next and opened a cupboard, revealing the bandages Shizuo had already borrowed the day before. He took it and sat down beside Shizuo.

He frowned again as he looked at the bandaged hand. God, he hurt Shizuo all of the time, how come he wasn´t even able to patch himself up the right way?! Did he always go to Shinra?

"Give me your hand." he commanded.

"Ah no, it´s alright, reall-" Shizuo began but Izaya interrupted him right away.

"Shut up, you didn´t even do this right. Watch." Shizuo decided to keep his mouth shut. Izaya didn´t seem like he was in the mood to argue.

He unwrapped his hand. Shizuo did wash his wound, but since it was his dominant one, he used it all of the time and it had begun to bleed yet again.

An unwanted feeling made itself perceptible as he remembered, just what had caused this wound. Sure, this was nothing to Shizuo, he was the fortissimo of Ikebukuro, this wasn´t even something that would bug him… but… still. Somehow Izaya felt… guilty...?

Yeah, guilt, even though he would love to deny it, that seemed to be this nagging feeling in his stomach.

Gentler than he would have to treat Shizuo, Izaya washed his wound again.

Shizuo watched him, stunned. He would have never expected the flea to be so… delicate. Especially with him.

"Eeh… You´re good at this." Shizuo mumbled.

Izaya sighed.

Of course he was good at this, he remembered only too clearly how often he had managed to cut his palms when he began using a knife. He finished wrapping up Shizuo´s wound. This time it looked way better.

"That´s how it´s done." Satisfied with the result he nodded and stood up again.

He froze as Shizuo flashed him a smile.

"Thanks." he said, mocha eyes locked on crimson ones. Izaya felt heat flush up his face.

Immediately the informant looked down, hiding his face behind his bangs as he stood up, and went out of the bathroom, mumbling a faint "no problem" while doing it.

God, he just now patched up his enemy! What's gotten into him?!

He felt heat flush up his face. Irritated, he went to the living room and sat down on the couch.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he feel so strange when that protozoan looked him into the eye?

He sighed heavily as he looked at his game standing on the table in front of him.

Thoughtfully, he grabbed the chess knight, twisting it in his hand as he looked at it.

Honestly, why did that blond always mess up his pace? And why the fucking hell, did he let him?! Honestly, his incapability to control his own thoughts and emotions really drove Izaya over the edge.

Why was he feeling the way he did?!

Honestly, why did that blond always mess up his pace? He stopped twisting it as he felt being stared at. Shizuo was standing in the door frame and watched Izaya.

"What?" Izaya asked, putting down the chess piece. Annoyed, that he couldn´t even have one moment to think for himself.

"You know, I always wondered, what rules are you playing by." Shizuo said, pointing at the strange game board.

"What, Shizu-chan wanna know about my games~?" Izaya asked with an amused voice. He was still quite upset, but he definitely wouldn´t let it show!

"Yeah, actually I do." Shizuo replied and approached the flea. Izaya sighed as he waved his hand.

"Don´t try it, it´s not really a game played by any kind of rules. The devices usually just resemble one of my pawns."

"Your pawns…?" Shizuo asked confused.

"Nevermind, it´s too complicated for a protozoan like you anyway.~" Izaya laughed teasing, realizing relieved, that he annoyed the blond. That´s the way it should be!

Shizuo frowned and sat down opposite to Izaya. What did he mean by pawn? He picked up the king and looked at it.

"What, ya know this one?" Izaya suddenly asked, visibly amused by Shizuo´s puzzled look.

"Oi, I am not that dumb, you know. I can actually play chess." he made it clear, putting down the piece again.

Surprised, Izaya rose his eyebrow.

_Oh? I didn´t know that. _

"Eh~? Shizuo being able to play something that actually requires the presence of a brain?~" he teased the blond and earned a glare for it.

"Shut it flea." Izaya chuckled at the annoyed response.

"Well, if that´s the case, how about a game to show me your incapability~?" he challenged the debt collector.

Shizuo dropped the frown and instead smirked at the flea.

Challenge accepted.

"Sure, bring it on."

They began to play, Shizuo as white and Izaya as black. After only 5 moves from Shizuo, Izaya had to admit that he was honestly surprised. Shizuo was good. Really good. Thinking he was just dealing with some incapable player Izaya took him on the light shoulder. _Shouldn´t have done that. _

Only two moves later he paid the price by loosing his Queen.

"What´s wrong Izaya? I thought you wanted to show me how incapable I am?" Shizuo teased.

_He is not that stupid after all. _

"It´s not over yet." he replied while taking one of Shizuo´s rooks. The blond frowned at the sudden loss. He decided to get serious now. However, Shizuo still didn´t fall for even one of his traps.

They went on playing as Izaya´s thoughts drifted off.

_He really isn´t stupid. _

_He just got a little bit too much strength and temper._ He remembered the incident yesterday, when he just smashed open the exit door and when he yelled at him for thinking he would leave him…

_("Maybe he fell in love with you.")_

_("I won´t leave you!")_

Izaya just moved his bishop, when he stopped in his motion. Maybe… if he knew, why Shizuo was acting to weird… if he really loved him… or if he just knew his reasons…

Shizuo was still staring at the board, planning his next move as he heard Izaya whisper.

" Shizu-chan…" he started.

"What…?" he asked still not looking up. Izaya could almost tell how hard Shizuo thought about his next move. He didn´t really listen... still, he just had to ask. He inhaled one last time before rasing his voice again.

"Why didn´t you leave me behind?"

Now he said it. Surprised, Shizuo lifted his gaze.

"Huh…?" He stared at Izaya and this time he didn´t look away but stared back.

Izaya pushed further, this time he wanted answers.

"Yesterday …why didn´t you just go by yourself? After all, there was no guarantee that the building would hold out long enough to take a second way. You could have died because of your try to save me… so why?"

Pause. Shizuo blinked. Once, twice-

Still holding his stare, Shizuo leaned forward, waving him closer.

"Huh?" Izaya leaned forward as well, highly curious, as Shizuo whispered into his ear.

"Figure it out yourself, if you are as smart as you always say you are."

…

_WHAT?!_

"HUH?!" That damn asshole! Here he was dead serious and what did he do?! Fuck with him!

"Ha, got ya. Check Mate!" Shizuo pushed his queen one field forward. Izaya looked down, confused.

Really, he was right. He **got **him. Annoyed, he glanced at the blond. He couldn´t care less about the game now.

"Shizu-chan, I am serious, tell me, what is this reason you have for being so nice to me…?" he tried again, frowning angrily. But Shizuo just grinned and leaned back.

"Nope, not telling." Annoyed, Izaya stood up.

"Shizu-chan, I-"

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Izaya flinched as he turned around, looking at the door. A chill running down his spine replaced the burning anger.

_Who…?_

"Oi flea, did you invite anyone?" Shizuo asked frowning as he stood up from the couch as well.

"Not that I know." he replied.

Shizuo got a bad feeling as he approached the door and looked through the spy. Soon he knew why.

6 guys were standing in front of the door. Each one of them carrying-

_A gun?! _

They aimed at the door. Time seemed to freeze, as Shizuo dashed back to Izaya. The flea not even able to utter one word before the shooting began.

The door got crashed. Or better, it was shot down. Whatever weapons they had, they were almost firing like machine guns. Each of them dashed into the room, shooting aimlessly around till their bullets were depleted.

Silence.

Shizuo gripped the flea tighter.

They both held their breath as they heard footsteps.

"Damn it, that bastard wasn´t even at home." one of the intruders remarked.

"So we shot down the place for nothing?" another one complained.

Annoyed murmuring rose.

Izaya held his breath as he listened closely to the sounds in his apartment. They were walking around, probably searching for him. He gulped. If they looked down here, if only one discovered them-

"There´s nothing." One of them suddenly announced, audibly annoyed.

"Tch, damn lucky bastard." He heard footsteps. Slowely they got fainter.

Silence.

_Are they gone?_

He felt Shizuo pull himself up a little and spy into the room.

Cautious Shizuo looked over the edge. It was empty. Shot down and messed up, but empty. They left.

"What fucking kind of assault was that?!"

He sighed heavily as looked down onto Izaya, still clinging desperately to him.

The flea´s place was shit. Much too open, with almost no place to hide. The moment Shizuo realized that they would shoot down the place he knew they couldn´t hide anywhere in here. So he just grabbed the flea and jumped out of the window, gripping the window ledge, with his good hand of course. There they hung, from the 17th floor, while the intruders were shooting aimlessly around.

"Oi, they are gone." he said and began pulling himself up. The moment he moved Izaya tightened his grip even more.

"Come on, if you cling that much to me I can´t move." Shizuo sighed and tried to move again only to end up being held even harder. He stopped and looked down. Izaya hid his face in Shizuo´s chest, but still…

"Wait, are you afraid?" Shizuo asked surprised, maybe even a little teasingly.

"S-shut up!" the raven stuttered back.

_Eh?! For real?_

"What´s wrong with you? Don´t you always balance on all kind of dangerous and high places?" Shizuo asked, quite amused. He had seen Izaya balance on railings or jumping on roofs even higher than this. Honestly, he was surprised by the flea´s reaction. It wasn´t as if he would let him fall after all.

Suddenly, Izaya looked up at him.

"You… It´s the FUCKING 17th FLOOR! Everyone would be scared up here, you idiot!" he cried, showing a really scared expression, holding onto Shizuo even more, as he closed his eyes tightly, not wanting to look down and snuggled closer again.

Shizuo felt a little tug at his heart, as he felt the flea shiver. Immediately, he pulled himself up and slid back into the living room.

Izaya lied down right away and hugged the ground. He still could feel his heart pounding.

"Thank god…" he sighed. Shizuo brushed through his hair.

"Sorry…" he mumbled guilty.

Izaya gave him a look he couldn´t quite interpret.

"Well, doesn´t seem, like it´s safe here anymore." the blond announced, trying to change the topic. Izaya frowned as he looked around.

"Yeah, you´re right."

That was really bad, now they even came to his home to take him down. Izaya gulped. He swore, when he found that bastard he would make him pay.

He sighed and stood up again.

"Well then, let´s go somewhere else."

"Huh?" Kinda expected that reaction.

"Huh?" Izaya chuckled. Kinda expected that reaction.

"You know, I bought another apartment, just in case someone would discover my old one." the informant explained further as he began packing all the still intact things that he would need.

Shizuo was still standing there, astonished.

"Just… how much money do you have?" he asked.

Izaya turned around with a smirk.

"Enough to survive~."

And with that Izaya pointed at his luggage, telling him more or less to carry it. Noting that the flea was still injured, Shizuo did as told. So they got out of Izaya´s apartment. They called a taxi, or better said, Shizuo did. No one stopped so he just stepped onto the street, holding up the next car that came, leaving Izaya laughing on the sidewalk.

Then they drove around for quite a while. Izaya just said something about not wanting to directly drive there, since someone could follow them. So they drove around aimlessly until the flea was 100% sure there was no one suspicious following them.

No words were exchanged between them the whole ride. While Shizuo just looked out of the window, Izaya spent the time thinking. About things he wanted, and things he did not want to think about…

It was 10 pm until they got to their new apartment, in secret.

This time it wasn´t a highrise and as flashy as the one Izaya had lived in before. Quite the opposite, it was rather tiny, on the first floor of a pretty rundown two-floored building.

The numbers of the flat only reached from 1-10 and it stood in an almost secluded part of Ikebukuro.

"You rent a flat in Ikebukuro?" Shizuo asked, surprised. After all he always told Izaya to stay out of Ikebukuro and then he had a flat there? Well, on the other hand it was Izaya he talked about, he would do it just to piss him off.

He smirked, getting what Shizuo was pointing at.

"Sure did.~"

They entered the flat.

If you could even call that a flat. It only consisted of three rooms. A living room which was simultaneously the bedroom, directly attached to the door with a tiny entrance in between. There was a bed, and a table with three chairs standing on the right. A kitchen was on the opposite side of the entrance, and a bathroom behind the door on the right of the room.

But that wasn´t what bothered Shizuo. Immediately as they entered the room both their gazes fell on the tiny bed.

The bed.

As in singular.

Only one.

And there was no couch or any other opportunity to sleep in the room.

"Ah, I forgot." Izaya thought aloud.

He rented this flat with the intention of living here alone in case he had to submerge for a while. He didn´t think he would live here with anyone else.

"Just so you know, I am not gonna lie on the floor!" Shizuo announced. Izaya looked at him, pouting.

"But I am injured, I have to take the bed. ~" he tried to convince the debt collector.

"And where do I sleep?" he asked furrowing his eyebrow.

Izaya looked around thinking, but there really wasn´t anything he could use.

"On the chair…?" he suggested teasingly.

"Not in this life." Shizuo replied and just dropped himself on the bed.

"Oi, that´s my bed! Move!" he growled annoyed.

"Make me." Shizuo would definitely not sleep on the chair.

Angry, Izaya crawled on the bed and tried to push Shizuo off of it, only leaving him to gasp as he suddenly realized that he was still hurt. Wandering around almost painless for a day made him forget what the reason was that Shizuo was here. Worried, said man turned around as he heard the hiss.

"Iza-" However, as he looked back the flea had already wrapped himself up next to him.

"Fuck it! I am not gonna leave!" he spat. Shizuo rolled over.

"So do I."

**-1 hour later-**

…

Tick-tock.

…

Tick-tock.

…

Annoyed, Shizuo looked at the clock hanging on the wall. One hour had passed and neither of them were moving an inch. And he really wasn´t comfortable lying like this.

The bed was small. Too small.

While he was already lying on the edge of the bed Izaya did too, their backs brushing slightly.

Izaya thought the same. He was also still awake, not being able to go to sleep since he was just barely lying on the edge.

"Oi, flea?"

"I am not moving." Izaya replied immediately.

Ah, so he was still awake.

Shizuo sighed. The flea wouldn´t move, and Shizuo didn´t plan to neither. He was tired.

The bed was to tiny to split it between to guys. He smiled amused as he got an idea just how to make this much more comfortable.

Suddenly Izaya felt the blond shift. Hoping that Shizuo would finally leave the bed to him, his eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly felt two arms wrap around his waist, pulling him back from the edge, into Shizuo´s chest.

"What are you doing?!" he squealed, surprised. Izaya felt the heat immediately rush to his face.

_Too close! Too close! Too close!_

"Shut up and sleep, flea. There isn´t enough space to split the bed." Shizuo explained and really had to restrain himself from grinning. What an incredibly good excuse to hug the flea while sleeping.

Izaya still lay there frozen. He felt Shizuo´s warm body against his back, his arms wrapped around his waist, and his warm breath tickling his neck.

It was almost as if he was hugging him…!

And damn it, he felt fucking comfortable! Being held that way made him honestly feel at ease, protected… He couldn´t stop that weird feeling welling up in him again, as Shizuo held him that close.

Damnit…!

He couldn´t sleep like this…!

**Awwww**…. *-* **But this wasn´t it! XD Kinda wrote too much fluffyness, so I split it up into two parts, best part ahead in Chapter 10! XD**

**Chapter 10: Mixed feelings 2 (even more sweetness coming along… ;3 ) Due to: 21.7.2014**

**PS.: Remember chapter 7? I posted it like really late, so i thought of something… check out my story list! ;D There might be a little surprise waiting for you! -^.^- This is my way of apologizing. ;D**


	10. Chapter 10: Mixed feelings 2

**Okay, first of all: Thank you sooooooo muuuuuuch! *0* *0* You are seriously awesome! XD You reviews really make my day! *-* Especially yours WaxWan. ;3 **

**Everyone be grateful for another chapter corrected by IkaruSakurai. ;D Thank you! -^.^- **

**So, and now, let´s get on with the fluffyness! XD Somehow, despite already splitting it up into 2 parts this Mixed feelings stuff still ended up being pretty long, almost double the usual. XD But oh well so be it. XD Here you have a really loooooong chapter! :3 **

**Enjoy! ;3**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter 10: Mixed feelings 2**

**-both point of view-**

It was warm.

Really soothing warm…

_What is this?_

Izaya blinked, once, twice-

Confused, the raven opened his eyes, still blurry from sleepiness.

_Where…?_

He tried to rub his eyes, but realized that something stopped him. He blinked surprised, eyes widening as he realized what prevented his hand from moving.

Shizuo.

It was Shizuo.

Izaya must have rolled over in his sleep, because there he was, face to face lying directly in front of the brute. Eyes closed, bangs hanging down. A peaceful expression showed on his face, and his arms were wrapped tightly around Izaya. One around his waist, the other partly serving as a pillow, wrapping around his back.

What the hell?! He was fucking hugging him!

Embarrassed, Izaya tried to push the blond away, or at least wiggle his hand out of his grip. But to no avail.

_What the-?!_ He couldn´t get out!

He tried again, but no chance, Shizuo didn´t even budge an inch.

Izaya felt unwanted heat rush to his face, as the blond suddenly moved in his sleep, hugging the flea even tighter in the process.

He was trapped in those strong arms of his.

"Shizu-chan, let go." he murmured, pushing the debt collector's chest, only partly wanting for the blond to wake up.

…

Shizuo was warm.

Izaya was used to waking up shivering, covered in a cold sweat, lying on the ground.

But this...

...

_So that´s why I felt so warm earlier. _

The raven looked at Shizuo with thoughtfulness.

That was the first time in ages he had actually slept through without discarding his blankets, without dropping out of his bed and without dreaming of … well, _that_…

He glanced at the sleeping debt collector.

The usual frown had disappeared, instead Shizuo looked calm, somehow at peace.

Bangs were partly hiding his face, but still Izaya didn´t miss the way Shizuo seemed to look actually happy.

_Eeh... So even you can show a peaceful expression? _

He stared at him with daze. He never knew Shizuo could look like that. Now that he thought of it, he had never seen the blond up close.

It just wasn´t safe enough to do so.

He leaned forward as he continued to stare at the ex-bartender.

He noticed another thing. From the impression Izaya got of Shizuo over the years he totally would have thought he was the type to sleep restless and probably snore.

Well, neither seemed to be true.

The only movement Izaya noticed was the way the ex-bartender's chest slowly raised up and down with every breath he took.

Somehow it was calming.

Izaya noticed the way his breathing seemed to match Shizuo´s.

He could even hear his heartbeat.

It was soothing.

Content, he closed his eyes.

Somehow he really lik-

His eyes shot open again in shock.

...

Oh no.

Definitely not.

No, he was not going to think he actually liked the way Shizuo held him close.

_No fucking way. _

This was Shizuo Heiwajima!

His enemy!

His-

His thoughts stopped immediately, as the blond suddenly moved closer, groaning in his sleep.

Red tinted Izaya´s cheeks, as he was suddenly pressed against Shizuo´s chest, their faces only a few inches apart.

_What the...!_

He tried to back away again, but stopped instantly as the blond suddenly opened his eyes, staring directly into Izaya´s red orbs.

Mocha eyes locked with crimson ones.

_Too close. Too close! _

For a moment Izaya´s mind was just blank.

He didn´t know how he should react, what he should say...

His mouth opened, but closed again, as no words seemed to come out.

For fucking god´s sake, they were tightly hugging each other in bed...! No matter how much he thought about it, he just couldn´t come up with a single thing he could say.

A really awkward moment of silence overtook the scene.

But to Izaya´s relief it didn´t last long, as Shizuo decided to break it.

"Good morning, flea.", the brute suddenly mumbled, still groggy, but not breaking the eye contact.

"Morning." Izaya replied dryly, finally able to speak and looked away, trying to hide his inner turmoil. But given the fact they were so close, this was not an easy matter.

He tried to wiggle out of brute's grip again.

"Um, Shizuo, mind to let me go?" he asked quietly, not daring to look him into the eyes again.

Only now Shizuo seemed to realize how tight he was actually hugging the flea at the moment because he instantly loosened his grip and Izaya wiggled out.

"Ah, sorry. Didn´t notice." he murmured.

Shizuo watched with surprise, how Izaya literally dashed out of bed the moment he let go.

Well, the thing that he didn´t notice he was hugging the flea, was a lie.

Of course he noticed. He just didn´t want to let go so soon, that´s all.

Waking up with Izaya in his arms wasn´t that bad...

But the reaction he got wasn´t quite what he expected.

Normally he would have thought the flea would just tease him again, about how he seemed to like hugging him for example, or just be angry with him, but only rushing out of bed without a word?

_Strange. _

Suddenly he noticed just another strange thing. The flea stopped a few meters away from him and was now staring at him.

Really intensively on top of that.

But not with a glare or a smirk, like he usually was. No, he was just simply staring.

Almost as if he was thinking about something.

"Izaya?" the blond began, however the moment he opened his mouth Izaya seemed to snap out of it again.

One of his usual smirks replaced the former intense stare.

"Come on Shizu-chan, you still not wanna sleep on the chair~?" he asked teasingly, pointing to mentioned chair, while the only thought he could really think of was:

_Change the topic! _

He sure as hell realized that he was acting weird, and damn, even that dumb protozoan would notice that if he didn´t say something soon.

Shizuo sighed and looked at the flea with a challenging look.

"No, definitely not." He got out of bed.

It was already 10 am. and his stomach definitely was longing for something edible. He walked slowly to the kitchen, already half expecting to find nothing there. He wasn´t surprised when he found the fridge empty.

He looked out of the kitchen.

"Oi Izaya, you have anything to eat here?" he asked.

Said man shook his head.

"No. What, wanted to make me breakfast again~?" he asked jokingly.

He sure was surprised when the blond actually nodded.

Izaya couldn´t prevent a little smile from appearing on his face.

_Eeh...? He wanted to make me breakfast again? How nice. _

Not that that meant anything at all, Shizuo maybe just wasn´t as bad as Izaya thought he was.

He smiled when he remembered the day before.

After all, he saved his life... again.

Actually, he changed his opinion on Shizuo, he kinda-

...

Izaya froze.

...

Wait.

What...?

Did he just really think-

No.

Nonono.

Can´t be.

That just-

He hated Shizuo!

There was no way he could just think that he-

...

that he...

...

-took a liking to the blond?!

He shook his head.

Seriously, what was he thinking about?

Shizuo was just an interesting human being, nothing more and nothing less...

Having Shizuo around him 24/7 sure made him think strange things.

He needed to get out.

Now.

He glanced at Shizuo.

And he already had the perfect plan to do so.

"Shizuo we are gonna go out now." he announced and got his coat.

"What?" Shizuo asked, visibly surprised, and already set to tell him not to do it, it seemed.

But this time the blond definitely wouldn´t win.

"No, really Shizu-chan, I wanna check if my informant already found out who this asshole is that´s after my life." he explained.

Well, that was a blatant lie. His informant knew his number. If he really had found something out he would have called by now. But what Shizuo didn´t know...

Shizuo cocked his head to the side. He seemed to be thinking.

"Okay... but, you really sure?" Shizuo asked, brushing through his hair.

"Sure? About what?" Izaya asked while changing. God, he was glad he could do that by himself again. His hand almost didn´t hurt at all and his shoulder hurt only a little bit.

The blond sighed.

"Izaya, you set foot out of this flat and everything living within a radius of 5 km wants to kill you. You sure it´s a good idea to go out?"

Izaya looked at the debt collector, surprised. What´s with that? Almost sounded as if he was actually concerned.

"What? You worried~?" he asked in a joking manner. Intending to tease the blond with the question, however, the answer he got simply left him dumbfounded.

"Quite, got a problem with that?"

Eh..?

He was ... worried?

About him?

Shizuo sighed.

"I mean, after all I am your bodyguard, right?", he added.

...

Oh.

Right.

…

That´s true, of course, that´s it.

He just does his job.

...

Izaya sighed. Somehow he felt a bit down.

Why?

"You don´t need to worry, it won´t be long, and as you already said, you are my bodyguard and till now you did a pretty good job protecting me." he continued.

Shizuo sighed in defeat. He honestly didn´t want the flea to go out, but if he put it that way...

He couldn´t just go and say "hey, you don´t need to go out. Whoever that bastard is, he doesn´t know you are here, so let´s just stay here and I will protect you forever..."

Couldn´t exactly do that, right?

So he had no choice. Izaya grabbed his coat, Shizuo his bartender clothes and they both set feet on Ikebukuro´s streets yet again.

However, this time Shizuo was even more alerted about what was happening around them. Unlike the previous time, he didn´t go a few meters in front or behind Izaya. No, this time they walked side by side.

But while Shizuo honestly only focused on any individual that seemed suspicious, the flea had quite different thoughts.

Shizuo was brushing his hand.

Every time he made a step. Every. Fucking. Time.

That´s just how close he walked to the raven.

And Izaya didn´t like it at all.

Seriously.

The reason he wanted to get out was to get his thoughts off Shizuo, even if it was only for a short amount of time. He was getting used to the blond´s presence. But this way he could build up the distance between them again, which seemed to be fading by each second.

He wanted to stop these unwanted thoughts and feelings from coming up all on their own, and oh god, he hated that smile that always wanted to appear every time the blond did something nice.

Not that he did, he wasn´t nice!

Okay, he did save his life and he did seem to care about-

Argh! NO!

NONONO!

Stop thinking about it!

Izaya was thankful for the moment they reached his informant´s base again.

"Okay, we are here. You wait." Izaya already motioned to go down, when he suddenly felt a grip on his hand.

"Izaya, you sure this is safe?" Shizuo asked.

And again, that damn fucking warm feel- argh, he hated it!

"Yeah, 100% sure." Izaya answered trying not to show what an effect Shizuo´s grip on his hand made.

Shizuo twitched. Again THAT answer. How the hell was he so sure?

And for fucking god´s sake, why did he trust the guy so much?!

"How the hell do you know that?" Shizuo asked annoyed.

Surprised, Izaya rose an eyebrow. Why was he so agitated now? Did he say something wrong? Noticing the angry look on Shizuo´s face Izaya decided to explain.

"Well, that´s easy to explain actually. That guy only cares about money, and nothing else in the world. So as long as I pay my part he won´t ever touch me." he said.

Shizuo looked at him, baffled.

"That´s it? That´s the reason you trust him so much?" he asked. Somehow he couldn´t believe that was all. Suddenly Izaya began to laugh.

What the- did he really think he trusted the guy?!

"Trust?! Don´t make me laugh Shizu-chan, where did you get that idea?" he continued laughing.

"Listen Shizu-chan, I don´t trust him, I just happen to know that Ryosuke has, let´s say, a little health problem, he wouldn´t be able to scratch me, not even when I am injured. Really, he is just a greedy bastard. That´s all. That doesn´t mean I trust him, I just know he can´t do a thing. You understand~?"

Shizuo sighed with relief. Okay, that explained a lot.

Izaya chuckled. What a reaction. He looked actually relieved.

Almost made him believe what his informant said was true...

And again, what if it was...?

Izaya smiled.

Well, he did seem to care at least a bit about him...

"Only about 15 minutes at the latest, okay? That´s how long I will stay there, if that relieves you~." the raven continued.

"Tch, 15 minutes... In 15 minutes he could still kill you just fine." Shizuo grumbled annoyed.

"But I already told you he won´t-" Izaya began, but Shizuo didn´t seem to let this go yet.

"You don´t know that." he hissed.

Woah for real? Why was he so overprotective? Really now...

"Don´t worry Shizu-chan, if something really happens, I will call for you. I know you will come and protect me, I trust y-"

Shocked, Izaya slapped a hand over his mouth.

Shizuo´s eyes widened.

Did he-

Did he really say that out loud just now?

That he trusted Shizu-

"Forget it!" Embarrassed, Izaya turned around and dashed to the door.

Oh my god.

Did he really...

...

Why did he say that?

Did he really...?!

Did he trust Shiz-

No, Shizuo was his enemy!

Shizuo was his-

"Izaya."

Izaya turned around, staggered. Shizuo smiled.

"Call me, and I will come to save you."

...

That´s it.

Complete overload.

Izaya couldn´t even think about pretending not to care anymore.

The damn heat that rushed to his face the instant these words left Shizuo´s mouth just made it impossible to do so...

Not trusting his voice Izaya just gave a small nod before he hastily disappeared behind the door.

He didn´t even realize it hurt when he ran down the stairs, considering the injury on his waist hadn´t fully healed yet. After all he abused it quite often these days while running around against the doctor´s orders...

He also hasn't even registered that he had typed in the wrong code about at the locked door 4 times, till he got the warning that after one more try it wouldn´t open up for 3 minutes.

He paused for a second.

Sighing, he pressed the backside of his hand to his forehead.

He didn´t know if it really was hot or if he just felt that way.

…

_God damn, heart, stop beating so damn fast! _

He sighed again.

How?

How did that damn brute always manage to mess up his pace completely?

How?!

He sighed frustrated.

And why did he say that in the first place?!

Aside from the part that he trusted him, why did he have to tell him that other part?

That he knew Shizuo would come to save him if he called.

That he trusted him enough to know he could count on him.

His worst enemy...

Really.

He needed to get away a bit.

He thought of Shingeki and the recent assaults again. Right, these were the things he should think about now.

He inhaled a few times in an attempt to calm down, before he finally entered the right code and entered the room.

Only the dim light on the table was burning, just as last time. Ryosuke was sitting in his chair again.

"Izaya! You´re visiting me quite often these days. What gives?"he asked amused as he noticed the raven.

Izaya sighed. Okay, he didn´t really need to talk to him. After all he just came here to get away from the blond for a while. But now that he was here, he sure could ask his informant to find out who these man were that wanted to kill him yesterday and if they were connected to this mastermind.

He sat down on the couch.

"I am here for business again. As you surely already know, I have been attacked yesterday." he began.

Ryosuke leaned back, lighting one of his cigarets. He seemed to get that Izaya wanted to get serious right of the bat.

"Yeah, I heard of that. 6 guys were shooting random in your apartment. Stirred up quite the rumors you know?"

Izaya nodded. He didn´t need his informative websites or pawns to predict as much. He could guess what the rumors would be about.

Probably if he was dead, if the yakuza came for him or if he planned that himself...

The human imagination was sure fascinating.

"As expected. So? Does this have a connection with the previous attacks?" the raven continued. The rumors weren´t of his interest now.

"I don´t know. Until now I don´t have a leading clue to our "mastermind", but I will look into that. I will call you when I got my hands on something." he explained.

Izaya nodded. Suddenly Ryosuke cleared his throat.

"What about Heiwajima? Did you find out what he is planning?"

Izaya frowned.

Oh god! Why did he have to talk about Shizuo again?!

Now of all times!

Seriously, that was about the only thing he did not want to talk about now.

"No, not yet." he answered. Ryosuke nodded.

"I see... Well then, is there anything else?" he asked the raven.

Izaya shook his head. No, he couldn´t think of anything else he could talk about with the other informant...

After all he only actually was here because he wanted to distance himself from Shizuo for a while...

He sighed. Well, that sure was a short talk.

He had to go up again.

And so he did.

Slowly he went up the stairs. This time it hurt only a little bit, nothing he couldn´t endure.

And he was glad about it, the last thing he wanted to do now, was to call for Shizuo´s help.

God...

If he just hadn´t said that before...!

He opened the door. Shizuo was leaning on the wall directly opposite to it, smoking one of his cigarets. Surprised, he looked at the flea.

"You finished already?" Izaya nodded and looked away.

God, he couldn´t even look him into the eyes!

"Yeah, he didn´t find out anything new it seems." he answered watching Shizuo as he approached him again.

Damnit, and now they would go home again- together!

He frowned.

Not if it was going his way...

He smirked at Shizuo.

"So~" he began, stepping out of the alley.

"Hm?" Shizuo blew the smoke into the air.

"Somehow I don´t want to go home yet~" he grinned.

Shizuo almost chocked on his cigarette as the informant said that.

"What?!"

"It´s boring just being inside my apartment all day, let´s walk a little bit~" the flea said, still having that smirky grin on his face.

That was the best Izaya could do - put on one of his usual masks.

"Are you an idiot?! What do you thi- OI!"

Izaya ignored the debt collector and moved on. Shizuo dashed after him immediately.

_That damn flea! I thought it would be dangerous out here?! _

"I thought we were gonna go home after that?" he asked the flea, who was still walking carelessly down the road.

"Don't worry, we won´t stay here. See, there is a little park down the road. Let´s go there. I don´t think any potential murderers would wait for me in a park. Ne, Shizu-chan~?" the raven smiled.

"Well that´s probably true, but still-!" Shizuo began, but Izaya just cut him off.

"Yay! Then it´s decided, let´s go~!" and so he continued walking down the street.

"Tch."

Damn it, what had gotten into Izaya? Why was he so careless now? Damn flea.

Izaya grinned. Well, that surely was amusing. Not only did he get to be outside longer for a while, but he also managed to make Shizuo angry again.

Now he felt a lot better. Annoyed Shizuo was definitely the best.

That´s probably what caused him to think such weird things. They were acting far to strange for the past days and they haven´t had a fight in a long time now.

He glanced back at Shizuo. He was still silently murmuring to himself.

Izaya giggled. Yup, angry Shizuo definitely was the best.

It didn´t take them long to get to the park the flea mentioned earlier.

While Shizuo spent the walk overly angry and anxious, Izaya was just happy that everything seemed to be normal again.

The park was a rather small one. A little pond was in the middle of it. Trees were planted in a circular form around the park and a generous amount of benches, each with a bush on both sides, were placed in it.

Izaya let himself drop on one of them.

Ahh... the fresh breeze that blew through the park sure was nice~

It was late harvest and all the leaves had already changed their colours, decorating the trees and ground with beautiful scarlet and gold.

Izaya ganced at the blond. While the flea sat on one of the benches Shizuo just stood there, obviously still quite alert.

Izaya sighed.

"Shizu-chan, don´t you wanna sit down for a while~?" he asked the debt collector. But the blond´s shoulders just tensed at the question.

"No, I am not as carefree as you." he growled in response.

Izaya chuckled. Really now, they were in a park for god´s sake, no one would try to kill him here, there were other people too, and whoever this mastermind was he didn´t want to have any witnesses.

That he was sure of.

Just take the first assault for example. The guy who wanted to shoot him. He was seen by a lot of people, and after Izaya called the police and he got arrested, he actually got killed.

Pretty strange, right?

And that second one, when that guy wanted to shove him off of that building, he had been following him before and for pretty long at that, but he only decided to kill him when there was no-one else. Well, except Shizuo, but he would have probably been framed for it afterwards.

The raven looked around. They weren´t alone. Little kids and their mums and dads were there.

Izaya was pretty sure he was safe for the moment.

Suddenly something in the bush besides his bench rustled. Curious, Izaya stood up and bent down.

Shizuo of course noticed this.

"What are you doing?" he asked, still quite pissed at the flea´s unreasonable behaviour.

"There is something here~" Izaya answered and shoved the branches of the bush

away.

"Oi look~!" Izaya grinned.

"Ha? What?" Shizuo came up closer.

"There are little kitties~!" Izaya said and reached out for one of them. Shizuo watched the flea with growing annoyance. How the hell could he act so carefree?!

"Really... oi, what are you doing?" he asked, seeing the informant almost crawl into the bush.

"Got one~!" Chuckling Izaya came back, carrying a little cat in his arms.

"Hello, little kitty~" he grinned, while petting the small creature.

Even if he didn´t look like it, he liked cats. They were similar to him. Always observed their surroundings, never accepted being ordered around, unlike a dog, and let their keepers work for them.

Really likeable creatures.

He glanced at Shizuo. The debt collector had turned around again, eagerly observing their surroundings and seemed to be just as pissed off as before...

Izaya smirked.

Time to tease him even more~

Shizuo was just lighting himself a cigarette, when the flea decided to attack him.

The blond realized the raven´s intention way to late and he suddenly felt something soft on his neck.

He tensed up immediately.

"OI, you damn flea! Take the cat away!" he almost yelled, but not moving an inch.

Izaya, however, didn´t intend to do so at all. He placed the cat on Shizuo´s neck in a way, that made it possible for it to claw itself onto Shizuo´s shirt and not fall down.

Izaya backed away a bit.

The picture was just hilarious: Shizuo was standing there frozen, while the little cat seemed to rather enjoy the warmth of his neck as it began to purr.

"Aww, Shizu-chan I think it likes you~" Izaya laughed.

God, that look! It was priceless!

"You damn-! Take it off me!" Shizuo said again sounding rather angry by now, but he still didn´t move an inch.

"Why don´t you do it yourself?" Izaya chuckled.

"You-! I can´t!" Shizuo answered.

"Hah?" Now it was Izaya´s turn to be surprised.

"I don´t want to hurt it." Shizuo murmured.

It was a baby cat for god´s sake! What if he grabbed it too tightly? He could fucking kill it! Damn it, that´s why he hated his strength.

Izaya couldn´t believe it.

A baby cat.

Oh. My. Fucking. God! A baby cat was all it took to completely immobilize Shizu-chan?!

Izaya almost pissed himself laughing at the helpless look on Shizuo´s face.

For real?!

He knew Shizuo feared he could hurt someone unintentionally with his strength, but this was just too hilarious.

"You damn flea, stop laughing, damn it!" Shizuo yelled, still rather lost as to what he should do now.

Of course Izaya did not stop. It was just too damn amusing to tease the blond. He approached Shizuo instead.

"What´s wrong Shizu-chan~?" he asked amused while circling around the blond.

Oh god, this was the best idea he'd ever thought up!

"Izaya, I am serious, take it off!" Shizuo hissed, still not moving.

Izaya giggled and approached the blond.

"No way~! This is far too fun to watch~!" Izaya laughed and closed their distance even more.

However, that was a big mistake, because suddenly Shizuo stretched out his arm and managed to grip the flea´s shirt.

He pulled him closer.

"Is it still fun to watch?" he asked through the clenched teeth. Now that he had Izaya, he just wouldn´t let him go until he took off that damn cat.

"Aw, damn, got me.~ And now? What you gonna do~?" the raven asked, still smirking.

"I am gonna make you take this cat off me." Shizuo said, holding the flea up by his shirt.

A bad idea.

The instant he lifted the flea by his shirt, Izaya flinched in pain. After all the shirt was holding up his weight by his shoulder. Immediately Shizuo put him down.

"Sorry..." he mumbled guiltily. For a moment there he forgot Izaya was still injured.

However, the stupid flea just laughed.

"Awww, Shizu-chan, how are you gonna make me do something if you are treating me so softly~?" he asked amused.

Annoyed, Shizuo took a small step forward and pushed the flea back.

"Tch, I will somehow." he answered.

Izaya chuckled.

"Sure~"

Shizuo took another step, a grin flashing over his face.

"Oh don´t worry, I already have the perfect idea." he grinned.

Staggered at the sudden change in the brute's attitude, Izaya looked at the debt collector.

Oh-oh... that didn´t sound good at all.

"Oh? And what´s that idea if I may ask?" Izaya asked.

Shizuo pointed behind Izaya and took another little step.

Izaya looked around.

No. Way.

There was a little pond only a few meters away from them. Izaya glared at Shizuo.

"Don´t you even think about doing that." he spat.

"But it´s a nice day for a bath in the open, don´t you think so?" he smiled.

"Shizu-chan, it´s harvest! And the water is freezing cold I bet!" Shizuo took another step forward, pushing the flea back.

"You think so?" he asked smirking.

That damn-! Shizuo would really throw him into the pond, if he didn´t take off the cat!

But no! No way was he going to give in now!

He glared at the blond.

"Shizu-chan, I warn you-" he paused as the blond took yet another step forward.

"Shizu-chan!" he hissed.

The blond just laughed. But instead of stopping he did the exact opposite. He continued making small steps, carefully so that the cat didn´t fall down. He didn´t know much about cats. Well, he did know they always land on their feet, but did this also apply to baby cats?

Either way he didn´t want to test it.

He slowly continued walking.

"Shizu-chan! Stop it now!" Izaya spat and looked back. The pond was really fucking close now and Shizuo had really gripped his shirt tightly.

No chance for him to escape.

"Well flea, how about it now?" The blond took one last step, pushing Izaya on the edge of the pond.

He pointed at the cat on his neck.

"Mind to free me now from this little monster?" he asked, smiling rather happily.

"Haha, Shizu-chan calling the cat a monster. What a paradox~" the raven hissed, annoyed.

"Well, either you help me or I have to throw you into the pond."

Ah, nice move...

Izaya sighed in defeat. He had no other choice. He really didn´t want to be thrown in there now. Just imagining it made him shiver.

He motioned to lift his arm, when he suddenly noticed something.

If he wanted to get the cat down from Shizuo he had to wrap his arm around Shizuo´s neck.

Around. His. Neck.

Like - the way you usually hug someone.

Izaya shook his head when he felt unwanted heat rise to his cheeks and hastily put his arm around Shizuo so he could reach the cat.

Shizuo also didn´t miss just how intimate that action actually was.

But just as fast as the moment came it ended. Izaya got the cat and sat it back on the ground. Shizuo still didn´t loosen his grip. The raven looked back up at Shizuo.

"Satisfied?" he asked the blond still feeling a little light-headed. Shizuo was looking at the flea for a while, then he chuckled.

"No." Staggered, Izaya looked at the blond.

"Hah?!"

"You took too long flea." he laughed and pushed the flea a bit forward. Surprised, Izaya gripped the blond´s shirt.

"O-oi! I did as you told me to! Stop it!"

Izaya didn´t fall yet. He wasn´t standing straight anymore either, more like he bended backwards quite a bit and only his grip on Shizuo´s shirt prevented him from falling down.

But Shizuo didn´t stop, instead he just pushed the flea further, making it impossible for him to keep his balance.

"Woah!" the flea didn´t even think about what he was doing. As he felt himself losing his balance, he let go of Shizuo´s shirt just to wrap his arms around his neck.

If he was going to fall, then the brute would come with him! But Shizuo didn´t even move. Instead Izaya just hung there, trying not to fall into the pond.

He glared at the blond, whose face was now only a few inches apart from his and was surprised.

Shizuo was just laughing. Really and wholeheartedly.

He had never seen him laugh before.

Never.

He had seen him angry, annoyed, calm, serious, everthing, but he never saw him laugh that carefree.

For a moment he was lost in the new expression Shizuo had shown.

The blond snapped him out of it when he spoke.

"Don´t worry, I won´t actually throw you in the pond." he chuckled and looked at the flea.

"Moreover, I think I can´t even, with you clinging to me so desperately." he smiled.

Izaya couldn´t prevent the heat rushing to his face as he realized just what he was doing right now.

The brute was right!

He was clinging to Shizuo for god´s sake!

Of course Shizuo noticed just how embarrassed the flea was by his own actions.

Shizuo chuckled and backed away, pulling the flea with him.

"Now I know why you like to tease people so much. It´s fun."

"I didn´t think it was fun." Izaya pouted.

"Come on, you started it." Shizuo replied, pointing at the cat. Izaya couldn´t prevent himself from laughing as he thought about Shizuo´s look before.

Oh yeah, he would definitely never forget that reaction.

"Okay, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." he replied chuckling.

Suddenly Shizuo´s stomach growled.

"You hungry?" Izaya asked amused. Shizuo sighed.

"Quite." he admitted. After all they didn´t even have breakfast in the morning...

"How about sushi?" he asked the flea.

Okay, maybe that question was superfluous. As soon as he saw the glittering in Izaya´s eyes he knew the answer anyway. He knew Izaya well enough.

Of course he wouldn´t say no to fatty tuna.

The walk to Simon´s was rather unspectacular. Izaya was walking at the front and hummed a melody while Shizuo was following him with a grin on his face. The flea had explained to him why he was so sure that nobody would attack him in the park and at Simon´s restaurant. Now he felt a little more at ease.

And somehow... he enjoyed walking outside with the flea. Almost seemed like a date.

Simon was as usual outside of his restaurant, advertising and already spotted them from afar.

"Iterashai! Oh, hello Izaya and- Shizuo?" the big Russian looked at them with surprise.

"Hi Simon! Today we are gonna eat sushi~" Izaya replied happily and walked into the restaurant, followed by Shizuo. The blond didn´t miss the way Simon´s mouth gaped open at the flea´s statement and of course, the moment both of them entered the restaurant everyone´s eyes were on them.

"Oi, isn´t that Shizuo Heiwajima? And Izaya Orihara?!"

"Yeah! I thought they detested each other! What the hell are they doing here?!"

"You think the are gonna fight?"

"Woah shit! We need to get away, if they start, hell is gonna break loose!"

Izaya listened to the rambling with amusement.

"We are causing quite a commotion it seems~" he chuckled.

"Seems so." Shizuo nodded. People were rambling even more than usually when they watched their fights.

They sat down in one of the private rooms of Simon´s restaurant. Soon said man came to take their orders.

Of course, Izaya ordered fatty tuna while Shizuo preferred to stick to one plate of sushi and of course the desserts from the menu.

Izaya lauged.

"What? Just one plate of sushi? You do know that we are at Simon´s right?"

Shizuo just shrugged.

"I just like sweet things better." he said.

Just a few minutes later Simon came back with Izaya´s ootoro and Shizuo´s sushi plate and dessert.

"Thank you."

"Thanks."

However, Simon didn´t leave immediately, instead he leaned down to Izaya.

"Я не знаю, что происходить, но не раздавить мои ресторан. " (I don´t know what´s going on, but don´t crush my place.)

He murmured in his native language. Izaya chuckled at that request.

"Не волнуйтесь, мы этого делать не буду…" (Don´t worry, we won´t do that.)

Izaya assured the Russian. Relieved, Simon nodded and walked away.

The informant glanced at Shizuo. The ex-bartender had already started eating his deserts. He looked really happy on top of it.

The sushi plate wasn´t touched for the moment.

Izaya took a bite of his beloved fatty tuna.

Yup. Definitely the best.

"I would have never imagined us eating together in peace without trying to kill each other." Izaya suddenly announced and grinned. Shizuo looked up from his plate.

"True." he agreed.

Probably a few weeks ago he would have asked anyone, who told him that he would be eating here together with Izaya, if they were insane. But now...

The raven has hated Shizuo since the first day he had seen him and not only because he initially thought his Shizu-chan was a girl. No, just that reaction he got from the blond at their first meeting was enough.

The instant the blond saw him he said he hated him.

Izaya thought about it. Until that point he hadn´t done anything to the blond so far, so why the hostility?

"Say, the first day we met you hated me the instant you saw me, why is that so?" he asked the blond.

Shizuo looked at him for a moment, then he shrugged his shoulders.

"Just because." he replied, leaving Izaya rather confused.

"Huh? What´s that supposed to mean?" he asked. Shizuo sighed.

"What I said. There is no real reason. You just were grinning that smirky grin of yours and I immediately knew that I hated you."

"That´s all?"

"That´s all."

Izaya sighed and continued eating his sushi.

"Hum, and there I thought I had already done something to make you hate me." the raven sighed.

"Nope."

Izaya watched Shizuo curiously, as he began to sort out his sushi.

"Shizu-chan, what are you doing?" he asked. The debt collector raised his head.

"Ah, I just don´t like maki." he explained and continued to eat the rest of the sushi.

"Ehh~? But makis are good. What a waste~" Izaya said. Shizuo chuckled.

"You can have them if you want." he said.

"Eh? Really?" Izaya asked.

"Sure, I am not gonna eat them anyway." he smiled and put them on Izaya´s plate.

"Whoaaaa~! Thank you Shizu-chan! You´re really nice~!" Izaya purred happily and ate received maki.

Shizuo smiled at the response. He didn´t know if the flea himself noticed it, but he was acting somehow less and less hostile towards him the longer he spent time with him.

Maybe that meant something...?

Shizuo shook his head. No, probably not, he shouldn´t get his hopes up just from something like this.

He could be with Izaya and that was enough. As long as he could protect the flea he was content.

They finished their meal.

"Bye!" Simon said with a happy grin when Izaya and Shizuo left. The blond smiled. Simon definitely approved of the fact that he and Izaya weren´t fighting.

"Well, that was good." Izaya suddenly began smiling as they went outside again.

"Simon's sushi is always good." Shizuo answered, but Izaya shook his head.

"No, I mean It´s nice to have someone to eat with, who doesn´t want to slit your throat at the same time…" he explained and smiled at Shizuo.

Well, that left Shizuo dumbfounded. Not just because of the words, but also because of that smile. It was an honest smile, he could tell. Izaya really meant it. A warm feeling spread in his chest as they continued walking into the direction of Izaya´s apartment.

The flea walked in front of him again humming some kind of melody and from time to time turned around to smirk at Shizuo.

Izaya watched him curiously. Somehow the blond seemed to be happy.

As to why... he didn´t know.

Suddenly there was loud shouting and a few people came running down the street.

Members of a coloured gang, Izaya guessed, since they were all wearing something red.

They seemed to be fleeing for some reason and shoved everyone away that got in their way.

But they made the biggest mistake in their life when they went past Izaya.

Walking. Had been okay. It wasn´t really helping his waist injury to heal, but okay.

Sitting up. Was also okay.

Changing his shirt. Okay.

Even going up and down the stairs. No problem.

But getting a straight hit from an ellbow to the still not healed injury on his waist – that was not okay.

Immediately immense pain shot through Izaya´s body as he got hit. He gasped and held his waist. Black spots invaded his vision and his knees almost dared to give away.

If Shizuo hadn´t grabbed his arm that moment he wasn´t sure if he could have stood any longer.

"Oi, Izaya!" Shizuo called worried, sure as hell noticing the pained frown on Izaya´s face.

"Ah it´s nothing." Izaya managed to say between tight lips as he tried to stand on his own again.

"Tch 'it´s nothing' my ass! These damn assholes..!" he glared at the people. They had to stop before they could cross the road as there was too much traffic.

Without warning he pulled the flea closer and dragged him to one of the flower pots that were standing on the pavement. He forcefully seated the flea on it.

With that he turned around, approaching the group of the colour gang that had been shoving the people, and of course Izaya, away.

They still were in a rush. Well, they would be no longer soon. Surprised, Izaya watched as Shizuo approached the guys.

"OI YOU!"

The guy that hurt Izaya turned around and looked at the blond, but he didn´t even get to open his mouth as he suddenly got punched in the face.

Hard.

Really hard.

Izaya gulped as he watched Shizuo who began sending every last one of these guys flying. He was obviously raging and, even though he was clearly outnumbered, Shizuo clearly had no problem with them all.

After he was finished beating up the gang members, he came back. Izaya was still just sitting there watching Shizuo. Of course his wound didn´t hurt as much anymore, it had been the impact that hurt most, now Izaya was okay again.

However, Shizuo still was worried. He approached the flea.

"Oi, you okay?" he asked the raven. Izaya nodded and stood up.

Initially he had thought about teasing the blond about how he got angry for his sake, but somehow... he didn´t want to.

Shizuo sighed, visibly relieved and grabbed the flea´s arm.

"Let´s get home, there are only stupid idiots on the street…" he mumbled annoyed.

Izaya smiled. There it was again, that feeling...

He sighed. Somehow he didn´t care anymore about what he felt. He couldn´t get rid of it either way, so why worry over it?

And so, they both went home in silence.

Only when they got home that silence got broken, because the first thing they saw, when they entered their flat, was the bed.

"I nearly forgot…" Shizuo mumbled.

"Me too." Izaya agreed. Shizuo glanced at the flea.

"Well, who is gonna get it?" he asked.

"Isn´t that obvious?" Izaya replied and also glanced at the blond in a challenging manner.

"No." said man said determined.

"Thought so." Izaya looked around the room, mainly thinking of another solution to their sleeping problem. But instead of a solution his eyes fell on something else. His game was already standing on the small table to the left of the room.

He smirked as he got an interesting idea.

"How about a game?", he asked and smirked at the blond. Shizuo looked at him in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Chess. The one who wins this game gets the bed." he explained. Immediately Shizuo´s face lit up.

"Sure, bring it on."

Shizuo didn´t have anything against this suggestion at all, after all he was the one who won the last time when he played with the flea.

So they began to play. Shizuo was sure to be the winner because he won before and Izaya thought he could win because he was just underestimating his opponent the last time.

However, they both weren´t expecting the actual result.

"Damn it!" Shizuo looked at the chess board. They had played for about an hour, but still they ended up in a tie. Izaya frowned. He really did play seriously there... no way could the blond be that good.

"Another game?" he challenged.

"Hell yeah!"

So they continued playing. But even after their second round and third... and fourth, they always ended in a tie.

Izaya sighed after the sixth round. They had played for a rather long time and he was getting tired of it.

"Oi, we played for quite a long time…" he began, but Shizuo cut him off.

"Who cares, I still have to beat you!" he replied.

"No!" Izaya replied vigorously.

"Huh?" But instead of an answer Izaya just got up and dropped himself on the bed.

"I hereby declare, this bed is mine!" he announced and snuggled into the pillows.

"The hell?! Get out, you flea!" Shizuo stood up as well and went to the bed. However, Izaya didn´t intend to move at all.

"Don´t wanna. I´m tired." he replied and rolled over.

"You…" Shizuo approached the flea from behind and tried to roll him back over again, when he suddenly noticed the flea was chuckling.

"What? Don´t tell me you´re ticklish?" he asked the raven, not failing to notice the caught look on his face. He grinned and softly began tickling the flea.

"No….nono!"

Immedtiately the raven began laughing really hard. He tried to escape, but Shizuo didn´t let him of course. The instant Izaya tried to move Shizuo moved their positions, trapping the flea underneath himself, while continuing to tickle the flea softly. After all, he didn´t want to hurt him.

In a matter of seconds the room was filled with Izaya´s laughter. Shizuo grinned as he stopped for a few seconds.

"Ya gonna give up?" he asked the flea who was gasping for air. He nodded, exhausted.

"Haha...okay, okay, you can have the bed, but please... stop Shizuo." he gasped.

Shizuo froze and the flea looked a him with a flushed face.

There he was.

His flea.

Lying under him, hot, breathing heavily and exhausted, looking up at him through half lidded eyes, calling his name.

Instantly he shot up from the bed and got off the flea.

"You can have the bed..." he mumbled, while disappearing in the kitchen.

Confused, Izaya looked after the blond.

_Hah? What had changed his mind so fast? _

He didn´t get it.

But Shizuo knew exactly why. The look Izaya gave him just now, well, he couldn´t deny it, it fucking turned him on really bad.

Only remembering it made him feel all bothered again. He quickly poured himself a glass of water and gulped it down.

God... that... was really unfair!

Izaya, however, still didn´t get why Shizuo decided to let him take the bed. He shrugged his shoulders. Didn´t matter either way.

He rolled over again so he could watch Shizuo. Who was drinking his now... third glass of water?

He tilted his head as he continued looking at the blond. Suddenly he remembered his informant's statement again.

_"Maybe he fell in love with you." _

Izaya continued looking at Shizuo and facepalmed as he realized just what an idiot he was.

There was a really easy way to find out, if that was true.

He could just ask him!

Why didn´t he think of this earlier?

_If he really loves me, and says yes it´s clear, but if he says no, but is actually lying, then I would notice that too. Problem solved. _

"Shizu~chan?" Izaya began. The blond turned around.

"What?"

"Do-" suddenly Izaya paused.

"Do- What?" Shizuo asked.

Izaya stopped for a second.

"Do-…Don´t think, that you are ever gonna get the bed, it´s mine!" he declared and rolled himself over so his back faced Shizuo.

"Huh..?" the blond was quite confused.

And Izaya was quite in an inner turmoil. He tried to sort his thoughts.

_Why didn´t I ask him?! _

_I could know it for sure now! If he said yes, it would be clear, and if he said no, but is actually lying I would know it too, and if he really doesn´t like me-_

_..._

_...if he really doesn´t like me... _

That thought somehow...

Izaya frowned.

_What?! So what if he doesn´t like me? After all it´s not like I - I... _

He shook his head vigorously.

_Let´s observe him a little bit more, just to make sure, so I don´t make myself look like a fool..._

**Awwww…. Izaya~ You little idiot, you fear him saying no, because you love him, ya know? :3 **

**Hope you liked this 'sweet' chapter, because... NEXT chapter, prepare for something BIG to happen! ;D **

**Chapter 11: Shock (shit is gonna get serious… ;3 ) Due to: 27.7.2014  
**


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